Archive for category Mahathir
Mahathir And Anwar Vs Najib: How Will It End? – Analysis
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, DAP, Mahathir, Malaysian Dream, Najib Razak on Thursday, 10 March 2016
By Yang Razali Kassim
RSIS
MARCH 9, 2016
Malaysia’s rambunctious politics has entered an even more unpredictable phase with political foes Mahathir Mohamad and jailed Anwar Ibrahim joining hands to unseat Prime Minister Najib Razak and push for systemic change. Where will all this lead?
The unthinkable is happening in Malaysian politics. It is triggered by the deepest political crisis the country has ever known, at the centre of which is Prime Minister Najib Razak. Forced by a common desire to end the turmoil by unseating Najib, two bitter foes – former premier Mahathir Mohammad and his jailed former deputy Anwar Ibrahim – have joined hands in what has long been thought an impossible alliance.
Aptly described as a sea-change in Malaysian politics, never before have such sworn enemies buried their hatchets for a common cause – and never before had that been a joint cause celebre to sack a sitting prime minister. By launching his rainbow “core group” of concerned citizens of various political stripes and leanings to “Save Malaysia”, Mahathir has once again thrust himself into the eye of the storm to redefine the political landscape. In the same vein, with Anwar in jail, all the disparate forces that have aligned themselves against Najib over the 1MDB investment fund scandal have finally found someone of stature to rally around in a marriage of convenience. It is ironic that the man who crushed the opposition while in power has remade himself in retirement as the de facto leader of what in essence is a citizens’ revolt. Read the rest of this entry »
Ban on Asia’s best debater Syed Saddiq from speaking at universities another sign of panic in the Putrajaya corridors of power over the 304 Citizens’ Declaration for Najib’s removal as PM and democratic and institutional reform
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Malaysian Dream, Najib Razak, university on Wednesday, 9 March 2016
On Sunday, I said that there is an air of panic in Putrajaya as a result of the historic 304 (March 4) Citizens’ Declaration for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s removal as Prime Minister and call for democratic and institutional reforms to Save Malaysia.
As an example, I cited Najib’s emergency summoning of UMNO/BN Members of Parliament to his official residence 24 hours after the Citizens’ Declaration on Saturday.
While UMNO/BN leaders put up a stoic front, denying that they were in any way bothered by the Citizens’ Declaration, the ban on Asia’s best debater, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, 23, from speaking at the local universities provides another sign of the panic in the Putrajaya corridors of power over the Citizens’ Declaration, signed not only by the longest-serving former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Ministers as well as by political and civil society leaders totaling 45 personalities.
Even more important, the Citizens’ Declaration has the effect like clap of thunder in the political landscape giving renewed hope to many Malaysians about the possibility of political changes in the country, although there are also reservations and doubters.
This is captured by one social media poll by Malaysiakini’s English Facebook and Twitter accounts, recording 76.2 per cent of 5,5852 respondents in favour of the declaration, 11.6 per cent rejection and 8.8 per cent skeptical about the entire issue. Read the rest of this entry »
United front needed to unseat PM Najib
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Mahathir, Malaysian Dream, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 9 March 2016
Tommy Thomas
Malaysiakini
9th March 2016
COMMENT Any prime minister in the 21st century who admits to receiving US$680 million in his personal bank account will immediately resign or be removed because it so offends public morality and good governance.
When multiple versions are given of the source of monies of that scale and magnitude, the reasons for payment to him and what happened to the money, his credibility is so destroyed that it is impossible for him to continue leading. Yet Najib Abdul Razak remains Malaysia’s prime minister nearly one year after the world discovered the unbelievably healthy state of his bank accounts.
Indeed, Najib’s decision last July to sack the deputy prime minister and attorney-general, and to intimidate hundreds of bureaucrats from discharging their duties in various governmental agencies charged with investigating the 1MDB scandal and the receipt of US$ 680 million, has had the effect of temporarily covering up the crimes committed and silencing Malaysians on pain of detention and prosecution.
A climate of fear has succeeded to a large extent, but the scandal is too deep and too huge to simply vanish as the prime minister desires. Read the rest of this entry »
Making our voices heard
Posted by Kit in DAP, Dyana Sofya, Mahathir, Malaysian Dream on Wednesday, 9 March 2016
Dyana Sofya
The Malay Mail Online
Wednesday March 9, 2016
MARCH 9 ― On March 4, 2016 we saw national leaders from both sides of the political divide, civil society and other influential figures sign the Citizens’ Declaration.
Perhaps Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad put it best when he said it was a meeting of “strange bedfellows.” Be that as it may, it was certainly a historic occasion for our country. Never have we witnessed political arch-nemeses, such as those who were present, coming together for a common political cause.
As I watched the events unfold “live” on my laptop screen, I had mixed feelings of amazement, trepidation and excitement. After all, those who had been jailed, exiled and prosecuted were now sitting together with the man who had caused them all the hardship.
But they did, not because they had suddenly forgotten and forgiven the man for his sins, but because they believed in the greater cause of saving Malaysia and her people.
Not everyone reacted the same way, of course. Some of my comrades, colleagues and friends felt betrayed and disappointed. I don’t blame them. Read the rest of this entry »
Working with Mahathir: The right thing to do?
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Malaysian Dream on Tuesday, 8 March 2016
— Yu Ren Chung
The Malay Mail Online
March 7, 2016
MARCH 7 — Earlier this week, a group of influential Malaysians signed a “Declaration” calling for Prime Minister Najib Razak to be removed and for institutional reforms.
This is a major escalation in the effort to remove Najib, and an extraordinary development in Malaysian politics. Najib has faced months of exposés, investigations, and rebukes for corruption relating to the 1MDB scandal.
The signing of the Declaration is the first time that Najib’s critics from opposing sides have explicitly united against him. Opposition leaders and civil society figures on the one hand, and disaffected members (and ex-members) of Najib’s own party on the other hand, have put their differences aside to “save Malaysia”.
Opposition and civil society leaders who signed the declaration are still “coming to terms” with working alongside Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the leading figure of the Declaration effort, who they opposed for decades for his authoritarianism during his Premiership. Many supporters of opposition and civil society leaders have been left questioning this cooperation.
Is working with Mahathir the right thing to do? I believe this question consists of two elements. The first element is strategy, and the second element is morality. I will not present a definitive conclusion for either element, but I hope to highlight what I think are the main arguments for both. Read the rest of this entry »
A hasty coalition?
Posted by Kit in DAP, Mahathir, Malaysian Dream on Tuesday, 8 March 2016
Emmanuel Joseph
The Malaysian Insider
8 March 2016
It is often said that in politics, there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies. The Malaysian scenario is no different. Alliances, both long term (as is often the case with Barisan Nasional), and short term (as is often the case with the opposition), would often see friend turn foe turn friend again with each passing election.
But I believe, even as recent as a few days ago, no one would have been able to foresee old arch nemeses sitting and smiling at the same table, reaching an agreement to oust a newer “arch nemesis”.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the country’s former prime minister and long-time Umno president; his long-time Parliament duelling partner Lim Kit Siang; Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, whose party was ironically formed mainly to oust Dr Mahathir; his former rival in Kubang Pasu and current Parti Amanah Negara president, Mohamad Sabu; one of his strongest critics, Hishamuddin Rais; and 53 other leaders from Umno, Pakatan Harapan and various NGOs had signed a declaration seeking to remove the current Prime Minister alongside other demands for reforms. Read the rest of this entry »
Call for Anwar Ibrahim’s release from Sungai Buloh prison to take part, like Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1990, in national reconciliation talks to Save Malaysia from becoming a failed and rogue state
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Guan Eng, Mahathir, Malaysian Dream, Najib Razak on Monday, 7 March 2016
There have both been bouquets and brickbats following 304 (March 4) historic gathering on the signing and proclamation of the Citizens’ Declaration involving former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir, former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Cabinet Ministers and Opposition and civil society leaders.
Undoubtedly, the Citizens’ Declaration on Friday had come as a total surprise and shock to many, including journalists whose profession is to smell out trends and news breaking stories, who would never imagine as possible such a get-together of long-time political opponents for a common cause.
I thank all for the bouquets and even welcome the brickbats, provided they are honest views and not pure venom soaked in lies and spite.
Can the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia calling on Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down as Prime Minister and for democratic and institutional reforms succeed?
To be frank, I do not think anybody can answer that question in all sincerity. But to Save Malaysia from becoming a failed and a rogue state is a deserving, honourable and honest objective which is worth trying to achieve and even failing, instead of not trying at all. Read the rest of this entry »
There is an air of panic in Putrajaya as a result of the historic 304 Citizens’ Declaration for Najib’s removal and democratic and institutional reforms
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Corruption, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Sunday, 6 March 2016
There is an air of panic in Putrajaya as a result of the historic 304 Citizens’ Declaration for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s removal as Prime Minister and call for democratic and institutional reforms to Save Malaysia.
This was why Najib had summoned UMNO/Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament to his official residence last night – a pre-council meeting which in the past had been held either on the eve of the beginning of Parliament or on the morning of the first day of Parliament meeting, but never two days in advance!
And there are valid reasons for Najib to be concerned about the effect and impact of the 304 Citizens’ Declaration, signed not only by the longest-serving former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Ministers, but also by political and civil society leaders.
This is because the Citizens’ Declaration had crossed the great political divide and accords with the sentiments of overwhelming majority of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, politics, age or gender that a national call must go out to reach the maximum number of Malaysians, even to the 3.3 million UMNO members and a million PAS members, for all to stand on a united common platform to save Malaysia from the slide down the slippery slope to a failed and a rogue state.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, from inside Sungai Buloh prison, has given unequivocal support to the bridging of the political divide not to be limited to “personal agendas or political vendettas” but to “chart a new way forward to save our beloved nation”. Read the rest of this entry »
The Najib effect
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Malaysian Dream, Najib Razak on Saturday, 5 March 2016
Economist
Mar 5th 2016
Not only Malaysians should be worried about rotten politics and a divisive prime minister
ONE of South-East Asia’s richest and hitherto most stable countries, Malaysia ought to be a beacon. Its constitution is liberal, and its brand of Islam generally tolerant. Its diverse, English-speaking population, combining ethnic Malays, Chinese and Indians, gives it zest and vim. Yet under the prime minister, Najib Razak, the country is regressing at alarming speed. Its politics stinks, its economy is in trouble, and there are worrying signs that the government is not above stirring up ethnic and religious divisions.
For the past year allegations of corruption have swirled around Mr Najib. They centre around hundreds of millions of dollars that made their way into his bank accounts before the most recent general election, in 2013. Investigators are looking into whether the money is linked to a troubled state investment firm, 1MDB, whose advisory board Mr Najib chairs. He denies wrongdoing. His attorney-general has ruled that the money was a legal donation from an unnamed Saudi royal, and that much of it has been returned. Read the rest of this entry »
As Najib Razak digs in, disillusion among Malaysians grows
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Financial Scandals, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Saturday, 5 March 2016
Economist
Mar 5th 2016 | KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysia’s scandals – The art of survival
ONLY standing room is left at the civic hall in Petaling Jaya in the western suburbs of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital. Inside 1,000-odd middle-class Malaysians have gathered to consider the fallout from a corruption scandal that has buffeted the country since July. “The whole world is laughing at us,” says a retiree watching from the back rows.
At the heart of the scandal are hundreds of millions of dollars that for unclear reasons entered bank accounts belonging to the prime minister, Najib Razak. You might think such a revelation would unseat Mr Najib and spell ruin for his United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which has held power since independence. Instead, Mr Najib appears to have strengthened his grip, by purging critics within the cabinet and police. On February 29th the grand old man of Malaysian politics, Mahathir Mohamad, stormed out of the party in disgust. Dr Mahathir was prime minister for 22 years until 2003 and was once a fan of Mr Najib. No more. Read the rest of this entry »
Lines finally drawn in fight for Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Najib Razak on Saturday, 5 March 2016
COMMENTARY BY JAHABAR SADIQ, EDITOR
The Malaysian Insider
4 March 2016
It took Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to force the issue for all Malaysians. He drew a line in the sand today, asking friends and foes to make up their minds once and for all.
Get on his side to “Save Malaysia” from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s government or be the enemy and part of the Najib Party – the ones defending the status quo as much as Dr Mahathir did when sacking Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim 18 years ago.
Anwar has signed up to support his mentor-turned-nemesis’s efforts. So has Lim Kit Siang and the DAP, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and the PKR gang, and activists such as Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and Maria Chin Abdullah.
A total of 58 prominent Malaysians signed Dr Mahathir’s Citizens’ Declaration today. The only ones missing are those from PAS. Read the rest of this entry »
From saving nation from Dr M, to saving it with Dr M
Posted by Kit in DAP, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Thursday, 3 March 2016
Malaysiakini
3.3.2016
COMMENT “Mahathir wants me dead but I pray that Mahathir will live to 100 years to see the decline and end of Mahathirism.”
Little did Lim Kit Siang know at the time that Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s influence would dwindle within the next three years of him uttering those words.
Fast backward, prior to the last general election, the 75-year-old DAP stalwart was furious because the 90-year-old former premier wanted the voters in Gelang Patah to put Lim’s political career in a coffin.
Lim said Mahathir’s “kubur” (grave) remark elicited a “rapturous response” from then deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin who declared “I was ‘trapped’ in Gelang Patah and that I was ‘finished’ politically.”
There was not the only thing which ruffled his feathers. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Malaysia Sliding Toward Dictatorship?
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Human Rights, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 2 March 2016
By Prashanth Parameswaran
The Diplomat
March 01, 2016
A look at how the rhetoric compares to reality.
Last week, Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad grabbed headlines when he suggested that the country was heading towards becoming a dictatorship like North Korea under its current premier Najib Razak.
And as I reported over the weekend, Najib’s former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin also warned that the country was witnessing “the collapse of democratic institutions and the emergence of a new dictatorship.” Muhyiddin was sacked last year after criticizing Najib amid the 1MDB scandal, a high-profile corruption saga where the premier has been accused of mismanaging funds linked to debt-ridden state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The aforementioned statements are no doubt heavily politicized and hyperbolic. But just how close are they to reality? Read the rest of this entry »
Feud With Najib Leaves Former Premier `Not Proud’ of Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 2 March 2016
Haslinda Amin
Bloomberg
March 2, 2016
Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad has lost pride in the country he governed for more than two decades, warning political tensions that have surrounded Prime Minister Najib Razak for months could hand a fractured opposition victory at the next election.
In a wide-ranging interview, Mahathir, 90, renewed his months long calls for the premier to step aside, saying Malaysia under Najib’s seven-year tenure had morphed from a stable, calm country where the economy was growing to a place that lacked tolerance.
“There was a time when I go abroad, people talk highly of Malaysia,” Mahathir said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 25. “Today, if we go abroad, we meet people, what they say is that ‘hey, what’s happening to your country?’ That’s what they say. And I am not proud because I can’t explain what’s happening in the country.” Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s Institutions Come Unraveled
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 2 March 2016
by Joshua Kurlantzick
Asia Unbound
Council on Foreign Relations
March 1, 2016
On Saturday, as the Diplomat reported, Malaysia’s former deputy prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, released a statement on Facebook warning that the country was slipping into dictatorship. Yassin lashed out against Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for overseeing this reversal from democracy. “In the face of public outrage at his leadership, Najib is using all the power that he has to suppress the voice of the opposition and silence his critics,” warned Yassin. “We are really witnessing the collapse of democratic institutions and the emergence of a new dictatorship.”
This was not new criticism by Yassin, but it was probably his harshest attack on the prime minister to date. Najib sacked Muhyiddin Yassin last year, after earlier revelations in the 1MDB scandal reportedly prompted Yassin to call for Najib to step down. Yassin’s political career has been on a downward spiral ever since. Last week, already stripped of his Cabinet position, Yassin was also suspended as the deputy president of UMNO, the main party in the governing coalition. Read the rest of this entry »
Beware of the Ides of March – but who should beware?
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Corruption, Mahathir, Malaysian Dream, Najib Razak, nation building on Tuesday, 1 March 2016
The past 12 months have been a year never experienced by Malaysians who, with increasing desperation and sense of hopelessness, have never felt so sick and wracked by so many crisis, whether the RM55 billion 1MDB crisis, the RM2.6 billion “donation” crisis – or actually more, as according to the latest revelation by Wall Street Journal today, more than US$1 billion and not just US$681 million had been deposited into Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts – the 6% GST imposed on April 1; the worst racial and religious polarisation in the nation’s history with the unprecedented rise of extremism, intolerance and bigotry; the devaluation of the Malaysian ringgit hovering at RM4.2 to the US dollar; the plunge in Malaysia’s educational standards and accomplishments; Malaysia’s deterioration in important international indices with the country named No.3 in the world’s “worst corruption scandals in 2015” or falling four places in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2015; the loss of national and international confidence in the Prime Minister who is being investigated by US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) whether he is a “kleptocrat” with the 1MDB scandal the subject of investigations by seven foreign countries; the threat of a new “dictatorship” with parliamentary passage of the National Security Council Bill (which has as yet to receive the Royal Assent) and above all, the future and survival of the Merdeka Constitution of 1957 and the Malaysian federation formed in 1963!
Everywhere and every day, informed, concerned and patriotic Malaysians are asking: How did Malaysia reached such a sorry pass, when the country once dreamt of international greatness and accomplishments in various fields of human endeavor in our early decades of nationhood, and how Malaysia could get out of the rut or cul de sac we have stuck ourselves in. Read the rest of this entry »
Reverting to type, Dr Mahathir forces a high noon with Najib
Posted by Kit in DAP, Mahathir, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 29 February 2016
NEWS ANALYSIS BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
29 February 2016
Reactions are coming in fast and furious from all quarters since Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that he had quit Umno – the second time he had done so since 2008.
His supporters believe this announcement will shake Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak while his critics say good riddance to a has-been. The Malaysian Insider attempts to make sense of Dr Mahathir’s move and sort out the fact from the hyperbole.
The reality is Dr Mahathir knows that he no longer has the influence or the levers of power in Umno to force Najib’s resignation. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia must get out of the present political cul de sac if the nation is to break the trajectory towards a failed and rogue state
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Malaysian Dream, Najib Razak on Monday, 29 February 2016
The greatest challenge facing the country is how to get out of the present political cul de sac if Malaysia is to break the trajectory towards a failed state because of rampant corruption, socio-economic injustices, collapse of governance, unbridled racial extremism and religious intolerance and bigotry and a rogue state because of violations of democracy, rule of law, free speech and egalitarianism.
If we are selfish and only think of our self interests, whether of political parties or individuals, we should not upset the status quo and the best thing to do is to wait for the next 14th General Election for UMNO/Barisan Nasional in the next hustings under the leadership of Datuk Seri Najib Razak cannot be weaker and more vulnerable.
But this will not be in the best interests of the nation, for Malaysia would have descended further in the next two years down the slope towards a failed and a rogue state.
However, the country seems to be in a cul de sac, both for those in the corridors of power and outside. Read the rest of this entry »
The time has come for the “Save Malaysia” campaign
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Mahathir, Malaysian Dream, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak on Saturday, 27 February 2016
I am honoured to be invited to launch one of the Tommy Thomas’ two books today: “Anything But The Law”.
We see Tommy as the “Lawyer’s Lawyer” in his book “Abuse of Power”, while his other book “Anything But The Law” we see Tommy as the “Politician’s Politician”.
I want to tell Tommy that the world of politics beckons to him and it is never too late or too old to take the plunge into the political maelstrom for freedom, justice and good governance. Come and fight the good fight!
Tommy has suggested a few minutes of jolly, joyous and light-hearted moments for the occasion but it will be hard to think of an occasion where one cannot be more sober or even somber about our national situation.
Only yesterday, a Deputy Prime Minister who was summarily sacked from his high office some seven months ago was suspended as Deputy President of UMNO, fully vindicating the recent description of the parlous situation of the country by the longest-living former Deputy Prime Minister, viz:
“Within the last few years …life in Malayaia is turning upside down and inside out, that makes it difficult to keep calm! In government and politics particularly, behaviours seem to be based on the struggles that prioritise personal individual survival of the fittest. The end seems to justify the means and anything, anything goes. The dividing line between good and bad, right and wrong, seem blurred.”
The former DPM whose political party position was suspended yesterday warned of the making of a new dictator and called on the rakyat to rise up to oppose tyranny and wrongdoing and to Save Malaysia.
Even the former longest-serving Prime Minister is on the same wavelength, warning that the country is moving in the direction of the North Korean regime.
Another former Deputy Prime Minister, who is currently in incarceration, has rightly cautioned that the only way to implement true change is to address the crisis of confidence that the country is facing, and that mere fixation on an individual will not achieve this purpose – a deficit of trust in the judiciary, the media as well as the country’s democratic institutions and not just the Prime Minister or an individual. Read the rest of this entry »
Vision 2020 Failing
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Najib Razak, nation building on Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Tun Musa Hitam
20th February 2016
AT THE START OF THIS DISCOURSE, LET ME FIRST OF ALL CONGRATULATE IDEAS FOR CELEBRATING YOUR 6TH ANNIVERSARY TONIGHT. I NOTICE THAT YOUR LEADERSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP LIST CONSTITUTES THE YOUNG. THIS IS VERY ENCOURAGING AND THE FACT THAT SIMULTANEOUSLY YOU COMMEMORATE THE BIRTHDAY OF OUR FATHER OF INDEPENDENCE TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN IS MOST ENCOURAGING.
IN MY LONG, LONG LIFE, I HAVE BEEN THROUGH MANY PASSAGES, MOSTLY BEAUTIFUL, SOME ROUGH AND ONE OR TWO REALLY ROUGH AND TOUGH. BUT HAVING A VERY POSITIVE MIND WITH FAITH IN ALLAH SUBHANA WA T’ALA, I ACCEPT ALL AS GOD’S GIFT AS CONTAINED IN THE WORD “HIKMAH”.
IN GOING THROUGH MY LIFE, I THINK I HAVE SEEN IT ALL, ESPECIALLY IN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS. ALL ALONG I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT I WAS TOUGH AND THAT I COULD TAKE IT ALL. I THOUGHT THAT NOTHING COULD SURPRISE ME, NOTHING COULD SHOCK ME AND THAT I HAVE ALWAYS MANAGED TO STAY CALM AND COLLECTED ESPECIALLY IN TIMES OF CRISIS. CALMNESS IN CRISIS, INDEED CALMNESS AS A CHARACTER TRAIT ENABLES ONE TO MAKE THE RIGHT JUDGEMENTS AND DECISIONS.
WITHIN THE LAST FEW YEARS, HOWEVER, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT LIFE IN MALAYSIA IS TURNING UPSIDE DOWN AND INSIDE OUT. THAT MAKES IN DIFFICULT TO KEEP CALM! IN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS PARTICULARLY, BEHAVIOURS SEEM TO BE BASED ON THE STRUGGLES THAT PRIORITISE PERSONAL INDIVIDUAL SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. THE END SEEMS TO JUSTIFY THE MEANS AND ANYTHING, ANYTHING GOES. THE DIVIDING LINES BETWEEN GOOD AND BAD, RIGHT AND WRONG SEEM BLURRED.
LET ME EXPLAIN… IN MALAYSIA IT SEEMS TO ME THAT POLITICS AND THE GOVERNMENT ARE, SIMPLY PUT, AWFUL AND A SHAME, ESPECIALLY MEASURED BY STANDARDS ESTABLISHED BY OUR POLITICAL FOREFATHERS. IN 4 YEARS’ TIME, IT WILL BE 2020. DR MAHATHIR TOLD US ALL THAT BY 2020, MALAYSIA WOULD BE A DEVELOPED NATION. BY NOW, ASSUMING ALL TO BE EQUAL, WE SHOULD JUST BE ABOUT READY TO CROSS THE LINE OF DEFINITION FROM “DEVELOPING” TO “DEVELOPED”.
UNFORTUNATELY THOUGH, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE 2020 DREAM IS FALLING APART BIT BY BIT BUT WITH ALARMING SPEED. THE WAY IT IS I AM NOW CERTAIN THAT WE WILL NOT REACH OUR GOAL OF VISION 2020! AND IF I MAY SAY AT THIS EARLY STAGE OF MY SPEECH, IT IS IRONICAL THAT DR MAHATHIR’S VISION IS NOW CERTAIN TO FAIL BECAUSE OF DR MAHATHIR HIMSELF. Read the rest of this entry »
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