Monday, September 29, 2008

BALIK KAMPUNG

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 29, 2008 5:07 PM

Balik kampung is a great tradition. It helps renew our ties and relationship with other members of our parent's family and relatives. And if we really come from the kampungs, it would remind us of our past, our bucolic antecedents and the simple life that we lead.

Malays and Chinese alike religiously practise this great tradition. The cities and towns would become very quiet, the streets almost empty and the air free of smoke and dust.

My regret is that many who take to the roads to balik kampung will never reach home. They would die in unfortunate road accidents. Instead of their relatives welcoming them with joy and love, their Hari Raya or Chinese New Year would be a sad one as they mourn their bereavements.

Then there is the return to Kuala Lumpur and again quite a few will not make it.

Lots of things have been tried by the Government of Malaysia to reduce fatal road accidents. But the figures keep on increasing.

Malaysians generally drive very fast. They get very impatient if the car ahead of them is slow. They would overtake, sometimes weaving in between the streams of cars ahead of them.

Sometimes the drivers may be careful. But other drivers may not be so careful and might crash into them with fatal consequences.

I think it is important for everyone from private car drivers to truck and bus drivers to drive slowly and really carefully. It is better to reach your destination slightly late but alive than to arrive in a body bag at the hospital morgue.

I suppose we all have heard of this advice. We think death on the roads only happen to other people. But you are the "other people" to other people. Death may come to you, probably together with your loved ones.

I pray to Allah that you will heed the advice given to you. It doesn't cost you anything to be careful when driving.

Remember you may be the "other people" to die in a road accident reported this year.

Please be careful. Please drive slowly and carefully. Think of your relatives waiting for you. Think of how sad and miserable they will be when their anticipated joy turns to misery.

I and my wife wish all drivers a safe journey home. We want to read your comment on the blog. May Allah s.w.t. be with you.

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin.

Mahathir and Hasmah


*****

Balik kampung adalah satu tradisi yang amat baik. Ianya dapat menolong mengekalkan pertalian dan hubungan kita dengan ahli keluarga ibu bapa kita dan saudara mara kita. Dan jika kita benar-benar datang dari kampung, ianya akan ingatkan kita kembali tentang asal-usul kita, kenangan manis masa lampau dan kehidupan kita yang serba sederhana dahulu.

Kaum Melayu dan Cina amat menghormati tradisi ini. Kota dan bandar-bandar akan menjadi sunyi sepi dengan jalanraya yang hampir kosong dan udara yang bebas habuk dan asap.

Namun saya kesal kerana antara mereka yang pulang ke kampung akan ada yang tidak akan sampai ke rumah. Mereka akan terkorban di dalam kemalangan jalanraya. Hari Raya, mahupun Tahun Baru Cina yang sepatutnya disambut dengan kegembiraan dan kasih sayang keluarga yang menanti kepulangan kita ke kampung sebaliknya bertukar kepada kesedihan meratap akan yang telah pergi.

Selepas itu pula tiba masanya untuk pulang ke Kuala Lumpur dan sekali lagi akan ada yang tidak akan sampai balik.

Banyak usaha yang telah dilakukan Kerajaan Malaysia untuk merendahkan kadar kemalangan maut. Tetapi angka tersebut masih tetap meningkat.

Rakyat Malaysia pada umumnya memandu dengan laju. Mereka akan hilang sabar jika kenderaan di hadapan mereka berjalan dengan perlahan. Mereka akan memintas, dan kadang-kadang memotong beberapa kenderaan di hadapan mereka sekaligus.

Ada kalanya kita berhati-hati. Tetapi pemandu lain pula kurang cermat dan akan berlanggar dengan kita dan mengakibatkan kematian.

Saya rasa amat penting bagi semua pemandu-pemandu kenderaan persendirian, lori dan bas untuk memandu dengan perlahan dan cermat. Lebih baik tiba ke destinasi lewat sedikit tetapi selamat daripada dihantar ke rumah mayat hospital.

Saya kira kita semua biasa dengar nasihat ini. Kita fikir kematian di jalan raya hanya terjadi kepada "orang lain". Tetapi kita adalah "orang lain" kepada orang lain. Kematian mungkin akan datang kepada kita, mungkin bersama orang yang kita sayang.

Saya berdoa kepada Allah s.w.t. agar kita beringat tentang pesanan yang diberi ini. Memandu dengan cermat dan berhati-hati tidak akan merugikan kita.

Ingatlah yang kita mungkin jadi "orang lain" yang terkorban di dalam kemalangan yang dilapor tahun ini.

Tolonglah berhati-hati. Pandulah dengan cermat dan jangan memecut. Ingatlah keluarga yang sedang menunggu. Fikirkanlah betapa sedih dan pilunya hati mereka apabila kegembiraan yang dinanti bertukar menjadi kesedihan.

Saya dan isteri saya mengucapkan selamat pulang ke kampung kepada semua. Kami ingin terus membaca komen anda semua di dalam blog ini. Semoga Allah s.w.t. sentiasa bersama-sama kita semua.

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin.

Mahathir dan Hasmah

Saturday, September 27, 2008

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com September 27, 2008 11:24 AM

Saya dan isteri saya mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri kepada semua rakyat Malaysia yang beragama Islam, khususnya kepada pelayar laman blog chedet.com.

Alhamdulillah, sekali lagi dapat kita bersama-sama meraikan hari kebesaran ini setelah sebulan menjalankan ibadah puasa.

Disamping bergembira bersama keluarga, saya harap kita akan teruskan tradisi kunjung mengunjung ke rumah-rumah terbuka untuk mengeratkan lagi silaturrahim di antara kita, terutama sekali dengan rakan-rakan kita yang bukan beragama Islam.

Semoga di hari yang gembira ini hubungan kita sebagai rakyat yang berbilang kaum dan agama di negara yang tercinta ini akan bertambah erat.

Saya akan mengadakan majlis rumah terbuka bersempena dengan sambutan Hari Raya Aidilfitri seperti berikut;

Tarikh : Oktober 5, 2008

Tempat : 58, Jalan Kuda Emas, The Mines Resort City, Seri Kembangan, Selangor

Masa : 10:00 pg - 1.00 tgh dan 2.30 ptg - 5.00 ptg

Kepada yang akan menyambut Aidilfitri di kampung, berhati-hatilah ketika memandu dan kami mendoakan perjalanan pulang yang selamat.

Sekali lagi saya dan isteri saya ucapkan Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir Batin.

Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad

Dr Siti Hasmah bt Mohd Ali

1 Syawal 1429 Hijrah

THE UNITED STATES

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 26, 2008 5:25 PM

1. I wonder what is happening to the United States of America. It used to lay down the laws and rules which the whole world must abide. If any country refuses then blacklisting, sanctions and even invasions by the US forces might ensue.

2. It set the forms and standards for everything; systems of Government, human rights, economic transparency etc etc. Now it seems to be breaking or ignoring its own rules, regulations and laws.

3. It had condemned the Internal Security Act as unjust and a violation of human rights. Following the shock and awe invasion of Iraq, it has detained alleged terrorists without trial and without rights and habeas corpus proceeings. Some detainees have been there for five years.

4. Then in Abu Ghraib detention camp detainees have been tortured and humiliated. They were treated like animals. If it had happened in some weak Asian country, the US would demand for all kinds of punishment which the US is ever ready to inflict. But no one can drag Americans to court and punish them. If at all American courts would try these miscreants and the punishment would be very light.

5. Because of the extraordinary greed of American financiers and businessmen, they invent all kinds of ways to make huge sums of money. We cannot forget how in 1997-98 American hedge funds destroyed the economies of poor countries by manipulating their national currencies.

6. When as a result of the so-called trade in currencies the companies in the poor countries faced bankruptcy, the Governments were told not to bail out any company or bank which was in deep trouble. The Americans claimed that these companies or banks were inefficient and they should be allowed to go bankrupt and perish. Better still they should be sold at fire-sale price to American investors.

7. Yet today we see the US Government readying US700 billion to brazenly bail out banks, mortgage companies and insurance companies.

8. Where does the money come from? From thin air as no real money in cash or bullion or anything tangible are moved into the bankrupt banks. The money is just in the form of loan papers and entries in the books of the banks or companies.

9. The US 700 billion has no backing whatsoever. No gold reserves, no foreign currency reserves as required for other countries. Without such backing the US Dollar is actually useless. Only the military power of the US is forcing the world to give value to the US Dollar.

10. Desperate to avoid a serious recession the US has abandoned all its principles. It has now banned short selling, limited currency trading and insist that the accounts of hedge funds and currency traders to be open for inspection and be published.

11. In the final spasm of fear, the Government has given itself the right to resolve the problem of bankrupt banks and companies by the Government taking over i.e. the great capitalist country has accepted what is nothing more than nationalisation which it had condemned so much before.

12. The US now owes the world US 14 trillion. There is no way it can ever settle this debt. If other countries fail to repay or service their debts, the US would demand that they be made bankrupt. Now the US is literally bankrupt but it still insists that the pieces of paper, the famous or infamous greenbacks have some value. It actually has no value. Certainly it cannot be used to finance wars of aggression against Iraq and Afghanistan, to finance the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) activities in undermining Governments and countries. But still the US' ability to threaten countries is undiminished.

13. An attempt is being made even in Malaysia to achieve a regime change. Money has been funnelled to certain individuals and parties to ensure that a well-known candidate with extensive connection to the US Jewish lobby would somehow become the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

14. US intervention in the politics of Malaysia is clear. I may not agree with the leadership of the present Government but I resent and object to US manipulations to make a satellite of this nation.

Friday, September 26, 2008

PEGGING

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 25, 2008 2:19 PM

1. I am not in the business of advising the Government. When I mentioned the advisability of pegging the Ringgit, it was in answer to a question posed by a reporter. If the Government noticed the report I would feel flattered.

2. Pegging currencies is not as easy as it sounds. The whole thing must be studied very carefully. Even getting agreement by a select panel is not easy. A decision made on the spur of the moment that pegging is not possible cannot really reflect the assessment made together with experts in consultation.

3. Pegging need not be always with the US Dollar. But the fact that the US Dollar is currently not stable is no reason why the idea should be summarily dismissed.

4. There can be other options. Other more stable currencies can be used or a basket of currencies may be used to reduce extreme volatility.

5. The US Dollar is backed by nothing, not even reserves in foreign currencies and gold which other countries hold in order to back their own currencies. The US is a bankrupt nation which means it is not in a position to provide foreign currency backing for its money.

6. The gold in Fort Knox has been depleted long ago and the pegging to gold of a certain amount as agreed to at the Bretton Woods has been done away with by President Nixon. No more gold standards. Yet the US Dollar still commands a certain value in the market. It is still being used for trade payments. This in fact gives the US Dollar a certain value even though the value, in exchange rate terms may change.

7. If the US Dollar is not used in international trading, it will have no value at all. This will of course hurt a lot of countries including Malaysia which carry substantial sums of US Dollar as reserves. Countries like China, Saudi Arabia and tiny Singapore would want to support trade payments made in US Dollar. They do not want their huge reserves of US Dollar to become worthless.

8. What we see here is the importance of international trade payments in sustaining the value of a currency.

9. Long, long ago I suggested the use of a special currency for trade. The currency should be equal in value to a fixed amount of gold. It should not be used domestically as each country would have its own currency pegged to the special trading currency.

10. The price of gold may go up and down but we know that the price of gold today is more than, say, 30 years ago. If we keep gold long enough we will eventually see it appreciating. It is not as volatile as currency notes.

11. So gold is an ideal standard for a trade currency. Effectively we would be going back to the Gold Standard, both for the trading currency and the domestic currency. For the domestic currency the rate against gold can change in keeping with inflation.

12. It was suggested that we call this trading currency the "dinar". Transactions would of course not be in solid gold dinars but with equivalent papers. It is not practical to carry around so much gold dinars but this will not be necessary if a country's export to another country and its import from that country is fairly balanced and only the difference need to be paid.

13. I am not an expert in this area but we can get experts to study whether pegging or the gold dinar are feasible. I would not dismiss the eficacy of these so easily.

14. Perhaps I can make a ridiculous suggestion. Why not make all Malaysian trade payments in Malaysian Ringgit?

15. We are a big trading nation. We export more than 200 billion Ringgit worth of raw material and manufactured goods and we import slightly less than that. Traders cannot just ignore us or boycott us. They need our exports and they need to sell their products to us.

16. All we need to do is to demand payment in Malaysian Ringgit for our exports. We can require payment for our imports in Ringgit according to the current value in an international trading currency or gold.

17. If we do this there will be a constant demand for Ringgit and this will keep the value of the Ringgit at a certain level which we can fix, taking into consideration factors which influence its value.

18. This may sound like a ridiculous suggestion. But not being a trained economist or financier I can allow myself the privilege of unorthodox thinking.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Snippets - SHAHIDAN PENASIHAT NCER

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 24, 2008 12:12 PM

SHAHIDAN PENASIHAT NCER

Laporan Utusan Malaysia semalam (Sept 23, 2008) amat menggembirakan saya. Sahabat saya Dato Seri Shahidan Kassim, Menteri Besar Perlis yang gagal menjadi Menteri Besar walaupun Perlis di antara negeri yang menang dalam pilihanraya 2008 telah dilantik oleh YAB Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Perdana Menteri Malaysia untuk menjadi penasihat dan pembantu beliau dalam mencapai visi serta misi Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara.

Orang yang busuk hati mungkin menyangka perlantikan ini adalah sebagai cara untuk Abdullah mendapat sokongan ahli Majlis Tertinggi ini supaya dia tidak sokong tuntutan beberapa ahli lain supaya Abdullah berhenti sebelum mesyuarat bahagian.

Kalau saya tidak salah apabila sahaja tokoh tertinggi parti UMNO ternampak mungkin akan menimbul masalah kepada Abdullah, tokoh berkenaan akan dilantik ke jawatan tertentu atau jika tidak ada jawatan dilantik sebagai penasihat kepada YAB Perdana Menteri. Yang bernasib baik akan diberi taraf Menteri. Selepas itu senyap sunyi.

Apakah ini satu jenis rasuah, wallahua'lam.

Dengan begitu banyak penasihat amat menghairankan kenapa tidakan Perdana Menteri Abdullah tidak begitu bijak. Mungkinkah ini disebabkan adanya penasihat bertaraf Menteri pun tetapi tidak ada suara. Ikatan kekeluargaan antara penasihat dan yang dinasihati mungkin lebih utama daripada yang tidak ada ikatan kekeluargaan, wallahua'lam.

P/S: Saya juga ucapkan tahniah kepada Ahli Parlimen Pasir Salak, Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman yang dilantik sebagai Pengerusi Felcra.

Adalah dijangka ramai lagi yang akan dilantik ke jawatan-jawatan tertentu atau jawatan yang diwujudkan khusus.

Yang belum sokong sila percepatkan sokongan. Masih banyak jawatan yang kosong atau dicipta khusus.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

SUPREME COUNCIL

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 23, 2008 5:40 PM

(Versi Bahasa Malaysia di akhir artikel ini)

1. The goings on in the UMNO Supreme Council are supposed to be secret. So it was quite a surprise when the press reported some important details regarding the Supreme Council's meeting on Thursday, September 18. What is even more surprising is that the reports expose the attacks against Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi by several members of the council and their demand that the transfer of power should take place before the divisional meetings which would nominate the candidates for President.

2. It appears that the words used by some of the members were very strong. Dato Seri Rafidah Aziz even attacked the roles played by Abdullah's son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin and the PM's son, Kamaluddin.

3. So harsh were the words used that Abdullah's face changed and he was reeling from the onslaught when Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak, ever the protector of Abdullah, stopped the proceedings. Najib promised he would speak on the matter with Abdullah.

4. It seems that the other Supreme Council members were not happy as once again controversial council matters were made into private deals between Abdullah and Najib. It is the kind of negation of council rights that both Abdullah and Najib had frequently resorted to. The two would later come out with decisions which were unsatisfactory to the council members. Najib would then stress on the need to be united and loyal to the President.

5. This time around it is not going to be any different. When faced with a tricky problem Abdullah would consult his family members, usually his son and son-in-law but now also his wife.

6. It is well known that the family is enjoying the power and freedom to shape Abdullah's decisions based on their own personal interest i.e., to accumulate as much wealth as possible and to ensure Khairy's political ambitions, including to become the country's youngest Prime Minister.

7. By the time Abdullah meets Najib he would have been briefed by his family on what to say. And Najib being Najib would then accept Abdullah's solution to the problem. In this case he would want to insist on staying until June 2010 or maybe a short while before. Najib would then have the task of selling this solution to the Supreme Council. By doing so Najib would go down further in the estimation of the members and of the public when Najib's behaviour is leaked to the public.

8. When UMNO was formed the founders wanted to ensure that no decisions which seem to contradict the basis of the party's struggle would get through without the Supreme Council approving them. What happened to Dato Onn Jaafar, the first President (Yang di-Pertua) of UMNO is an excellent example. The President was not obeyed blindly. Instead because he proposed something contrary to the basis of the party's struggle, it was rejected and as a man of honour he resigned.

9. For almost 50 years the Supreme Council played this role. Thus when (Tun) Musa Hitam resigned as Deputy President of the party, the Supreme Council did not just agree with the President but sat until the early hours of the morning and then decided, the President's views notwithstanding, to send a delegation of senior members to London to persuade Musa to reassume his post of Deputy President of the party and Deputy Prime Minister. Musa agreed to return as Deputy President, though not as Deputy Prime Minister. And so he was well positioned to bring me down by persuading Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to contest for president against me. Incidentally during his campaign to become UMNO Deputy President he claimed that I backed him.

10. But after Abdullah took over party Presidency and became Prime Minister the character of the Supreme Council changed completely. It became the personal instrument of Abdullah for approving and legitimising all and everything he did.

11. I believe on Thursday the worm turned partially. A few members found courage to demand the early resignation of Abdullah. Of course the "Yes-men" did not turn. The worm became so twisted that there is real danger it would break into two.

12. I suppose this would worry Najib who wanted a peaceful transfer of power in order to keep the party intact. So he is likely to accept any scheme which would allow Abdullah to relinquish his post in a blaze of glory.

13. Unfortunately Najib will not get his wish. There has never been a President of UMNO who is as much disliked and even hated by the people as Abdullah. Malays, Chinese and Indians, whether members of the Government component parties or mere supporters or ordinary people all want Abdullah to go, the sooner the better.

14. The only people who want him to stay are those who owe their positions to him, or who benefited from contracts and other largesse distributed by him. For some, including civil servants there is just fear of him which keeps them silent but sullen.

15. Strangely the true supporters of Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister and UMNO President are members of the opposition. Karpal Singh, Anwar Ibrahim and Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat want him to stay, at least till the next election.

16. However it is not for love of him but because they believe that with him leading the Barisan Nasional the opposition stands a better chance of winning the 13th General Election and forming a Government. They feel they are within reach of their objective and did not want to see the renegades of UMNO, MCA, MIC, Gerakan and PPP returning to the fold and make defeating the BN probably an impossible task.

17. So much for the Supreme Council which is no longer Supreme.


******


MAJLIS TERTINGGI

1. Perbincangan di dalam Majlis Tertinggi UMNO sepatutnya rahsia. Jadi amat memeranjatkan apabila akhbar melaporkan beberapa butiran penting berkenaan mesyuarat Majlis Tertinggi yang diadakan pada hari Khamis, 18hb September. Apa yang lebih mengejutkan lagi ialah laporan tersebut mendedahkan tentangan terhadap Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi oleh beberapa ahli majlis dan desakan oleh mereka agar peralihan kuasa diadakan sebelum mesyuarat Bahagian-bahagian yang akan menamakan calon Presiden.

2. Difahamkan bahasa yang digunakan sesetengah ahli agak keras. Dato Seri Rafidah Aziz turut membangkitkan peranan yang dimainkan menantu Abdullah, Khairy Jamaluddin dan anak beliau, Kamaluddin.

3. Begitu keras bahasa yang digunakan hinggakan muka Abdullah berubah. Beliau nampak tertekan dengan desakan ahli majlis apabila Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak, yang sentiasa menjadi penyelamat Abdullah, menghentikan mesyuarat. Najib berjanji untuk bercakap dengan Abdullah berkenaan hal ini.

4. Difahamkan ahli Majlis Tertinggi yang lain merasa tidak puas hati kerana sekali lagi perkara kontroversi yang melibatkan majlis dijadikan bahan perbincangan tertutup antara Abdullah dan Najib. Menidakkan hak majlis adalah sesuatu yang sering dilakukan Abdullah dan Najib. Mereka berdua akan membuat keputusan yang tidak pun memuaskan hati ahli majlis. Najib kemudian akan tekankan betapa pentingnya untuk bersatu dan setia kepada Presiden.

5. Keadaan kali ini juga sama seperti sebelumnya. Apabila berhadapan dengan sesuatu masalah rumit, Abdullah akan meminta nasihat keluarganya, terutama anak dan menantunya termasuk sekarang ini isterinya.

6. Umum mengetahui keluarganya mempunyai kuasa dan kebebasan untuk mempengaruhi segala keputusan-keputusan Abdullah berdasarkan kepentingan diri mereka iaitu untuk mengaut sebanyak mana kekayaan yang mungkin dan untuk mempastikan cita-cita politik Khairi termasuk untuk menjadi Perdana Menteri termuda.

7. Apabila tiba masanya untuk bertemu Najib, Abdullah sudahpun diberi taklimat oleh keluarganya tentang apa yang harus diperkatakan. Dan Najib akan terima apa sahaja keputusan Abdullah untuk meleraikan masalah yang timbul. Di dalam kes ini, Abdullah akan tetap dengan pendiriannya untuk kekal hingga Jun 2010 atau mungkin awal sedikit sebelumnya. Najib kemudian akan ditugaskan untuk "menjual" keputusan ini kepada Majlis Tertinggi. Dengan ini Najib akan lebih dipandang rendah oleh ahli majlis dan rakyat apabila sikapnya ini didedahkan kepada umum.

8. Apabila UMNO ditubuhkan, pemimpin terdahulu memastikan yang tidak akan ada keputusan-keputusan yang bercanggah dengan asas perjuangan parti dibuat tanpa terlebih dahulu mendapat kelulusan Majlis Tertinggi. Apa yang terjadi kepada Dato Onn, Yang di-Pertua UMNO yang pertama merupakan contoh terbaik. Presiden tidak diturut secara buta-tuli. Sebaliknya apabila beliau mencadang sesuatu yang bercanggah dengan perjuangan parti, cadangan beliau ditolak dan sebagai seseorang yang mempunyai maruah, beliau telah mengundur diri.

9. Selama lebih kurang 50 tahun, Majlis Tertinggi memain peranan ini. Demikian apabila (Tun) Musa Hitam meletak jawatan sebagai Timbalan Presiden parti, Majlis Tertinggi yang bersidang tidak bersetuju bulat-bulat dengan Presiden, sebaliknya bermesyuarat hingga ke awal pagi dan membuat keputusan, walau apa juga pendapat Presiden, untuk menghantar satu delegasi yang terdiri daripada ahli-ahli kanan majlis ke London untuk memujuk Musa menerima kembali jawatan Timbalan Presiden parti dan Timbalan Perdana Menteri. Musa bersetuju kembali sebagai Timbalan Presiden tetapi tidak sebagai Timbalan Perdana Menteri. Dengan itu beliau berada di landasan yang baik untuk cuba menjatuhkan saya dengan mempengaruhi Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah bertanding jawatan presiden menentang saya. Secara kebetulan semasa berkempen untuk bertanding jawatan Timbalan Presiden UMNO, beliau mendakwa mendapat sokongan saya.

10. Tetapi apabila Abdullah mengambil alih Presiden parti merangkap Perdana Menteri, perwatakan Majlis Tertinggi bertukar. Ianya menjadi alat peribadi Abdullah untuk melulus dan menghalalkan apa sahaja yang beliau buat.

11. Saya percaya pada hari Khamis keadaan ini telah berubah sedikit. Beberapa orang ahli telah berani meyuarakan desakan supaya Abdullah melepas jawatan awal. Sudah tentulah penyokongnya tidak beralih arah. Demikian ada kemungkinan majlis pecah dua.

12. Saya rasa ini merisaukan Najib yang hendakkan peralihan kuasa secara aman supaya parti tidak pecah-belah. Oleh itu dia akan terima apa sahaja cadangan yang membenarkan Abdullah lepaskan jawatan dengan penuh kegemilangan.

13. Malangnya Najib tidak akan capai impiannya. Tidak pernah ada Presiden UMNO yang begitu sekali dibenci rakyat seperti Abdullah. Melayu, Cina dan India, samada ahli parti komponen Kerajaan mahupun penyokongnya atau rakyat kebanyakan kesemuanya mahukan Abdullah mengundur diri. Lagi cepat lagi baik.

14. Yang mahukan beliau terus pegang jawatan adalah mereka yang kedudukan mereka bergantung kepadanya, atau mereka yang mendapt untung daripada pemberian kontrak dan sebagainya oleh beliau. Bagi sesetengah yang lain, termasuk kakitangan awam, hanya ketakutan terhadapnya yang menyebabkan mereka tidak mahu bersuara tetapi mereka tetap marah.

15. Yang peliknya ialah yang benar-benar menyokong Abdullah sebagai Perdana Menteri dan Presiden UMNO adalah pembangkang. Karpal Singh, Anwar Ibrahim dan Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat hendakkan beliau (Abdullah) kekal sekurang-kurangnya hingga pilihanraya akan datang.

16. Tetapi ini bukanlah kerana mereka sayang kepadanya tetapi kerana mereka percaya dengan beliau mengepalai Barisan Nasional, pembangkang mempunyai peluang yang lebih cerah memenangi pilihanraya umum ke-13 dan mendirikan Kerajaan. Mereka rasakan yang mereka hampir mencapai matlamat mereka dan tidak mahu golongan yang memberontak di dalam UMNO, MCA, MIC, Gerakan dan PPP kembali kepada parti dan menyukarkan usaha mereka untuk kalahkan BN.

17. Begitulah Majlis Tertinggi yang tidak pun lagi tinggi.

THE BARISAN NASIONAL II

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 22, 2008 1:52 PM

1. When the Barisan Nasional did very badly in the March 2008 general elections, all the component parties except those in Sabah and Sarawak experienced losses as they had never done before.

2. In the aftermath of the elections, the component parties pointed accusing fingers at each other. Very quickly they were at each other's throats.

3. There were talks about leaving the BN. And now we are seeing the first party to do so and to become an independent party.

4. Where before all parties avoided raising sensitive issues in public, now in the name of democracy and liberalism sensitive issues are brought up in which the component parties of the BN make known the differences in their view. The result is to widen the divide separating the BN component parties.

5. When Ahmad Ismail made unpalatable remarks about the Chinese, it was made out that it was the view of UMNO itself. Far from denying it, the UMNO leadership accepted the blame and apologised. This solved nothing as the Chinese parties refused to accept the apology but demanded the culprit himself should apologise.

6. He refused and UMNO whose president heads the Government suspended Ahmad for three years. This may satisfy some Chinese but almost immediately the Government arrested a Chinese MP under ISA. The effects of Ahmad's suspension have been nullified.

7. Now the Malays are angry with the Chinese and the Chinese are angry with the Malays. Party-wise UMNO is angry with Gerakan and MCA and Gerakan/MCA are angry with UMNO.

8. Threats to leave the BN are made by the Chinese parties, not just because of Ahmad's refusal to apologise but also because of the impression that they are subservient to UMNO. They believe that the failure of Chinese voters to vote for them was due to this junior position they hold in BN. To correct this impression they found it necessary to take pot shots at UMNO and defy the BN leadership.

9. Privately UMNO, MCA Gerakan and MIC express their dislike of Dato Seri Abdullah and his Premiership. But none seem willing to acknowledge that it was dislike for Abdullah which caused the BN to lose the support of the people. Instead they picked on the parties and blame each other.

10. At the rate things are going the BN might split asunder. If each party go their separate ways, none would become a force in Malaysian politics and certainly none, not even UMNO, can aspire to form the Government of Malaysia. Of course they can all join the Opposition under Anwar, but they would still play a subservient role in the Opposition. In any case the Opposition withi its ideological incompatibility would not make a good Government, capable of handling Malaysia's multi-racial population. It is difficult to think that the hodge-podge collection of incompatible parties can handle oncoming economic and financial problems that are inevitable.

11. The stability of this country has been undermined by the weakness and incompetence of the current Government and the harsh bickering between the Government parties. A Government by the Opposition is not going to be any better and probably would be worse.

12. Currently we are seeing the loss of confidence in the ability of the Government to deal with economic problems. Foreign investors are not coming and together with locals are pulling out their investments in the stock market. From a high of almost 1500 the index is now below 1000. God knows how much market capital has been wiped out.

13. The Ringgit is depreciating and may shrink further. The cost of living has shot up. Businesses are having a hard time already. The recent decision to tax excess profits of the Independent Power Producers has caused foreign investors and locals too to lose confidence. The tax has now been withdrawn but not for the first year. This alone would put the IPPs in trouble with their banks.

14. In at least one case a foreign investor has been given back his deposit of almost 100 million Ringgit because allegedly there was some technical error.

15. I once said Malaysia as a multi-racial country needs a strong government. Multi-racial countries have to face race relation problems. With the need to handle racial problems, the managment of the economy becomes extremely difficult.

16. I cannot see the Opposition with its loose organisation being able to handle Malaysia's racial and economic problems.

17. In the past, the BN Government had managed to keep Malaysia stable and to develop the country as well. If it seems not to be able to do so now it is not because the BN as a party is no longer suitable for this country. It is simply due to very poor and incompetent leadership.

18. The component parties of the BN should not think that their best hope is to see the demise of the BN. Rather they should all come together to resuscitate it. If it is necessary to dump the leader than they should do so. But destroying the BN will neither be good for the component parties nor for the nation.

19. I am not an UMNO member even but I would like to suggest the component parties should stop blaming each other, stop taking pot-shots at each other. Instead they should all come together and review the structure of BN. They should try for a win-win or lose-lose solution in dealing with inter-party relations. They should listen to the people and to their own members and find ways to satisfy their needs; to overcome their dissatisfaction.

20. There must be some new thinking on the BN concept. But the basic premises about close collaboration between the parties, about the need to help each other, to accommodate and deal with grouses together should be maintained.

21. I believe that for this multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural country with extreme economic disparities, the BN is still the best political solution provider. It is still the best way for the different races to cooperate to govern this country.

22. As the Malays say "Because of one drop of indigo, a whole pot of milk is spoilt."

23. We must not throw out the baby with the bath water.

24. The BN is still relevant. It is still the ideal coalition for Malaysia's multi-racial population.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Snippets - LOSS OF CONFIDENCE

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 20, 2008 11:48 AM

LOSS OF CONFIDENCE

1. I was reading the comments on my blog on 'Mengingati Pejuang-Pejuang', when I came across a comment which respectfully disagreed with me that the defeat of BN in the General Election was not due to support for the opposition but disaffection with BN.

2. He said if that was the case they could have voted for the third candidate who actually lost his deposit.

3. I had lost in the Election of 1969 in a constituency with 35,000 voters of whom 30,000 were Malays. I had won in this constituency in 1964 with more than 4,000 votes majority. I figured that in 1969 that even if the non-Malay voters did not vote for me I would still win because support for me amongst the Malays had increased by almost 3,000.

4. But what happened shocked me because Chinese voters not only refused to vote for me, which meant a loss of 3,000 votes but they voted for PAS. I needed 6,000 more votes to replace 3,000 voters who did not vote for me and another 3,000 because they voted for PAS.

5. I lost by 900 votes. If the voters who were dissatisfied with UMNO and BN voted for a third party or refuse to vote, the BN would lose these votes but may still win if the margin previously was big and the opposition did not get additional votes. But when votes were taken away from BN there would be a decrease in BN votes. Then when the votes are given to the opposition there would be an increase in votes for the opposition and so the gap is widened and the opposition would win.

6. Experience has shown that independent third parties hardly ever win. Supporting them would reduce BN votes but that would not be enough to ensure the opposition wins.

7. The rakyat are right in being fed-up with corruption by UMNO "plutocrats". But that had not always been so. It is the corrupt practises of UMNO leaders of today, especially the topmost leader, which has caused deep anger against the party.

8. Actually the present leader's involvement with graft, his support for his son's business, the power he gives to his son-in-law, his well-known sleeping habits, indecision, lack of ability to handle problems, sudden withdrawal of oil subsidy, cancellation of the bridge to Singapore, wasting money on the unused RM800 million (Johor Baru) Customs, Immigration and Quarantine building, cancellation of the railway double tracking and electrification project, the monsoon cup and lots more are what turned the voters against BN.

9. The kampung folks and the ordinary Chinese by and large are not too concerned about human rights or more liberal Government. Even the ISA did not bother them as shown by their strong backing for the Government party, before.

10. The talks in the kampungs and the ordinary Chinese and Indians were about the increase in cost of living, few business opportunities and of course the behaviour of the PM's family.

11. In 2004 they gave wholehearted support for the BN so that the party won 90% of the seats in parliament and recaptured Terengganu. Could it be possible that the voters who were so greatly enchanted with the BN in 2004 but in a space of just four years have changed their collective minds so radically?

12. As for rejection of race based politics, why did the voters vote for PAS, a 100 percent Malay party and DAP, a predominantly Chinese party.

13. I know many who admire the West tend to support their values. They would like to interpret the disastrous performance of the BN based on Western thinking. But we are Asians and in Malaysia our basic racial differences are extreme. All we can do to avoid confrontation between the races is to allow them to form race based parties and to have them cooperate with each other. This was the BN policy and practise. And it worked for almost half a century.

14. We cannot fault the BN concept and governance. We have to look elsewhere for the loss of confidence in the party.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

FINANCIAL TURMOIL

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 18, 2008 3:45 PM

1. The world is going through financial turmoil but most Malaysian politicians especially those in the Government seem blissfully unaware or unconcerned. Already 10 major banks in America have collapsed. The almighty US Dollar has depreciated. Now the huge insurance corporation, the American International Group is on the verge of bankruptcy.

2. In the last three quarters AIG lost US$18.5 billion dollars (68 billion Ringgit). AIG is struggling to raise funds to overcome its difficulties. If it fails it may have to opt for bankruptcy. But AIG is going to lose even more.

3. The failures are all due to playing with money, selling mortgages, selling papers and all kinds of financial dealings which have been invented by the finance houses in order to make huge sums of money out of nothing. Currency trading is one of them.

4. I am not a financial expert but I see trouble coming our way. Our currency should be appreciating against the cheaper US Dollar. But instead it is depreciating. This must be caused by weaknesses in our economy.

5. Despite Government propaganda through the controlled media that we are doing well, the reality is otherwise. The foreign investors, including Arabs came, and the reports claim that hundreds of millions of Ringgit in investment would be coming in, but there is no sign that the investors are actually investing. In fact I hear in the IT sector a proposed 600 million Ringgit investment has been withdrawn.

6. Apart from Arabs buying up new skyscrapers there is no sign that investments are really coming in.

7. I talked to potential investors and they told me they would not be investing and they are pulling out from the Malaysian stock market. The KLSE figures show how much market capital has disappeared. I am told that it is more than 100 billion Ringgit.

8. In the meantime the prices of oil and foodstuff are high and may go higher. But incomes are not increasing. In other words we are experiencing inflation. When the American financial crisis really hits us we may not be able to handle it.

9. Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak's appointment as Minister of Finance has come at a crucial time. I pray and hope he will be able to handle the impending crisis. If he fails then he will have to take the blame. Dato Seri Abdullah is now only involved in social issues, reform (of what?) and Islam Hadari. Appropriately he has taken over the Ministry of Defence.

10. We are in for a very interesting time. The PM should read carefully SAPP President Yong Teck Lee's press statement. But I don't think he would. He is reputed to have told Malaysian diplomats undergoing training that if they are asked critical questions they should "buat bodoh" i.e. pretend to be stupid. I believe that is precisely what Abdullah would do to Yong's statement.

PS

1. I read this morning that the Federal Reserve Bank will loan to AIG US$85 billion to prevent it from going into bankruptcy.

2. I remember well how we were told never to bail out failing companies. But in the last one year the Fed has bailed out dozens of failing banks, mortgage corporations and other businesses. Altogether the bail out has cost the Fed almost US$500 billion dollars.

3. I just wonder where the money comes from. Does the Fed hold hundreds of billions of dollars in readiness to rescue failed banks? I don't think so.

4. The money used is "created" through entries in account books. No cash or dollar notes are issued or even printed. Like a magician, the Fed make money from invisible sources.

5. Whatever, the USD will continue to fall.

6. Malaysia would be wise to get rid of dollar holdings. This goes for Bank Negara too. It must have lost quite a bit because of the depreciation of the USD.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Snippets - A STUDY IN SPINNING

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 17, 2008 4:21 PM

A STUDY IN SPINNING
1. Spinning is a method of making thread from cotton wool. But today, spinning has an entirely different meaning.

2. I was told about the spin doctors used by Tony Blair very soon after he became Prime Minister. I did not know what spin doctors do. And so I rejected the suggestion that I should employ spin doctors for press relations.

3. Now we all know all about spin doctors, the chief of whom is Kalimullah. He decides how to spin any report on Abdullah. Reporters often apologise to me because their reports on what I said at press conferences are quite different from what they wrote. But they claim they have no say on what appears in print from their reports.

4. Spinning is the art of making all reports, especially the bad ones, look good for the subject concerned and vice versa. Even the picture can be spun by choosing the ones that will make the subject appear masterly and talking down to his companion. In the case of the Prime Minister the pictures chosen would show him to be dominant in relation to whoever he is talking to, other Prime Ministers, or even Presidents. Never mind if he is junior to his partner but well chosen pictures will make out that he is more senior. Don't publish a picture of him falling asleep or with a vacant look in his eyes.

5. Readers would be taken in by the spin. If on the other hand, the subject is not liked by the spin doctors, then publish his picture scowling or cringing before whoever was talking to him.

6. Spinning may include misreporting, or excluding certain parts or twisting the sentences to convey another meaning.

7. Once I was asked about the reduction in petroleum price. I said "It is good for the people. We should have more by-elections (the Permatang Pauh by-election was on at that time), then the Government would reduce the price of petrol some more".

8. What appeared in the press was "Dr Mahathir says the reduction in the price of petrol is good for the people".

9. I cannot say I did not say it. But the newspaper publisher, by omitting the rest of my statement made it sound as if I was praising the Government for reducing oil price.

10. Sometimes the spinners do not coordinate with each other. The result is to make their reports negate each other.

11. On 15th September, The Star reported with the headline "Muhyiddin wrong to seek PM's resignation". The report stated that Dato Seri Rais Yatim, Foreign Minister said that UMNO Vice President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should not have asked the PM to step down as Malaysia practised democracy.

12. According to the report Rais said, "In a democratic country such action should not take place because we need to respect each other's views".

13. The next sentence seemed a bit confused as Rais was reported to have said (sic) urged Abdullah to act against Muhyiddin who had said that Abdullah should rethink his transition plan to step down by 2010 as the time frame was too long.

14. "If the PM thinks the minister (Muhyiddin) is not qualified or clashing with him and that action should be taken against him, then he should do it", he (Rais) said.

15. For a Foreign Minister I thought this stand taken by him is odd, to say the least. Only recently, Blair the war criminal, PM of Britain was forced by Gordon Brown to resign, which he did. And Britain is an older democracy than Malaysia.

16. Then I read the Utusan Malaysia. I was startled by this paper's report on Rais under the heading "Tidak wajar gesa Muhyiddin letak jawatan - Rais" (Not right to urge Muhyiddin to resign - Rais).

17. It reports Rais, member of the Supreme Council of UMNO as saying "finger pointing at other people and demanding the individual concerned to step down should not be done."

18. Rais then said "Jadi tidak wajar anggota Kabinet lain menggesa rakannya supaya berhenti atau diambil tindakan. Itu satu gesaan yang tidak harus dilayan atau dilaksanakan kerana kuasa itu hanya ada pada Perdana Menteri." (Thus it is not right for other members of the Cabinet to urge his colleague to step down or for action to be taken (against him). That is a demand that should not be entertained or implemented because the power rests only with the Prime Minister).

19. Clearly the two reports are about the same incident but the difference is remarkable. One chastises Muhyiddin and the other defends Muhyiddin.

20. Which report is right? I am inclined to think The Star has spun the report so as to look bad for Muhyiddin. Why the spin? Is it because of a desire to please the powers that be? It does seem likely because today everyone seems anxious to please Dato Seri Abdullah. Or is it because the reporter did not understand what Rais was saying? I wonder.

21. The Utusan report seems to be more in keeping with the attitude of Rais. He had always been outspoken and never hesitates to criticise even Government action, or Dato Seri Abdullah himself. Anyway, I hope the Utusan report is the more correct one.

22. In my time the papers did self-censor themselves. But they did not spin. Now spinning is blatant.

23. The bloggers have attracted a huge number of supporters with Rocky Bru having more than six million hits. The popularity of the blogs is obvious. It must be because people no longer believe or even read certain papers nor watch the Government controlled TV stations.

RACIALISM

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 16, 2008 6:02 PM

(Versi Bahasa Malaysia di akhir artikel ini)

1. When the Barisan Nasional did very badly in the last general election many observers inside and outside the country claimed that the Malaysian people of all races have rejected race-based politics.

2. The remarkable increase in the opposition Members of Parliament is said to be due to their representing the alternative to the race-based politics of the BN. How they can ignore the entirely Malay PAS and the overwhelmingly Chinese DAP I do not know. These are race based parties.

3. If indeed the people as a whole reject race-based parties as represented by the component parties of the BN, then they would reject PAS and DAP. And we should see an improvement in race relations.

4. But is there any improvement in race relations?

5. I may be wrong and certainly the leader of the Government will say I am wrong, but what I see today is more extreme racialism raising its ugly head.

6. The latest is the case of Dato Ahmad Ismail.

7. The furore caused by him, a minor figure in UMNO, is out of proportion to the issue itself. But because of poor handling by the UMNO big guns it has become an issue that can split asunder the BN itself.

8. Now we have the MCA and Gerakan threatening to leave the BN.

9. We can appreciate the need of the Chinese parties to regain support of the Chinese by showing their strong stand against UMNO. But the only result of this would be the antagonism of the Malays against the Chinese. If this goes on, if the Gerakan and MCA leaves BN because of what Ahmad Ismail said, then who gains? Obviously the opposition Pakatan would gain. The choice for Gerakan and MCA is either to join the opposition or to degenerate into insignificant parties which can never aspire to win enough seats to form a Government. The end result will be victory for the opposition.

10. Do we really think the opposition with parties like PAS, an entirely Malay party with its Islamic State vision and DAP with its predominantly Chinese base and secular politics can form a good Government? The Pakatan is not a properly constructed coalition like the BN. It is just a collection of disparate parties which come together in order to win elections by not contesting against each other.

11. I know that PAS and the DAP are not happy with Johnny-come-lately Keadilan and its leader Anwar Ibrahim. They don't want to be subservient to Keadilan or to have Anwar as their Prime Minister. They don't want Keadilan playing the role of UMNO in the Pakatan.

12. The result will be chaos for this country. There would be racial tension which may turn ugly.

13. What I notice is the unwillingness of the disenchanted Chinese parties in the BN to name the real culprit. Privately the Chinese, like the Malays would condemn the leadership of Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. But no one would openly say so. Instead as we can see UMNO is made the scapegoat.

14. Making UMNO the scapegoat is not going to improve race relations or improve the quality of the BN Government. Unless and until Dato Seri Abdullah is removed nothing that the Chinese parties and UMNO can do will help improve race relations or resuscitate the BN or improve the Government of the country.

15. I had said that instead of Dato Seri Najib apologising, UMNO should discipline Ahmad. His apology and its rejection by Gerakan simply angered the Malays. At the same time I don't think support for Gerakan and MCA would increase.

16. The BN leader should have called the parties concerned and persuade them not to use the race card. But the leader was too scared to face Ahmad Ismail one-to-one. Instead he resorted to the Internal Security Act (ISA) to prove that he is impartial. Now not only the Malays but the Chinese too will become more angry.

17. In my last article I have tried to reduce the anti-BN feeling. To me it is still a great coalition, still the best instituton in the multi-racial Malaysian politics.

18. The problem is incompetent leadership. You don't sink the ship because the captain is not handling it properly. You remove the captain.

19. I know the Chinese papers are calling me racist. I can deny it but they would not accept my denial. But good race relations in Malaysia is a must. Fighting between UMNO, MCA and Gerakan will only result in racial animosity and split BN. No one in the BN will gain.

20. UMNO, MCA and Gerakan leaders should try to heal the rift and help revive the BN.

21. However I must admit that this will be quite impossible if Abdullah still leads the BN and the Government. It is time that UMNO, MCA and Gerakan join together and force the resignation of Abdullah. Then and then only would we be able to revive the BN and perhaps restructure it. If not race relations will go from bad to worse and the whole country will suffer.

*****
Perkauman

1. Apabila prestasi Barisan Nasional jatuh dengan teruk pada Pilihanraya Umum lepas ramai pemerhati di dalam dan luar negara mendakwa bahawa semua rakyat Malaysia pelbagai kaum telah menolak politik berlandaskan kaum.

2. Peningkatan mendadak jumlah Ahli Parlimen pembangkang dikatakan kerana pembangkang merupakan alternatif kepada politik perkauman yang diamalkan BN. Bahawa PAS adalah parti Melayu manakala DAP pula dianggotai hampir keseluruhannya oleh orang Cina tidak diambil kira. Saya tak faham. Parti-parti ini juga merupakan parti berlandaskan kaum.

3. Jika benar rakyat menolak parti berlandaskan kaum sebagaimana yang diwakili parti-parti komponen BN, mereka juga sepatutnya tolak PAS dan DAP. Dan kita juga patut melihat peningkatan hubungan antara kaum.

4. Tetapi adakah terdapat peningkatan hubungan antara kaum ini?

5. Mungkin saya salah dan semestinya pucuk pimpinan Kerajaan akan kata saya salah, tetapi apa yang saya lihat hari ni ialah kewujudan sifat perkauman yang lebih ekstrim.

6. Yang terbaru melibatkan Dato Ahmad Ismail.

7. Kemarahan dan kekecohan yang ditimbulkan beliau, seorang yang kerdil di dalam UMNO, tidak setanding dengan isu yang dibangkitkan. Tetapi oleh kerana pemimpin UMNO tidak bijak mengurus isu tersebut dengan baik, maka ianya menjadi satu isu yang boleh pecah-belahkan BN.

8. Kini MCA dan Gerakan mengugut untuk keluar BN.

9. Kita boleh faham tindakan parti Cina untuk kembalikan sokongan kaum Cina dengan menunjukkan bantahan yang kuat terhadap UMNO. Tetapi ini hanya akan timbulkan perasaan marah orang Melayu terhadap orang Cina. Jika ini terus berlaku, jika Gerakan dan MCA tinggalkan BN kerana apa yang diperkatakan Ahmad Ismail, siapa yang untung? Sudah tentu Pakatan pembangkang. Pilihan yang ada pada Gerakan dan MCA hanyalah untuk menyertai pembangkang atau terus merosot menjadi parti yang tidak signifikan yang tidak mungkin boleh menang cukup kerusi untuk bentuk Kerajaan. Akhirnya pembangkang menang.

10. Percayakah kita parti pembangkang seperti PAS, yang bulat-bulat parti Melayu dengan matlamat menubuhkan negara Islam dan DAP yang mengamal politik sekular dan dianggotai hampir keseluruhannya oleh orang Cina boleh mendirikan Kerajaan yang baik? Pakatan Rakyat bukanlah satu perikatan seperti BN. Ianya hanya himpunan parti-parti berasingan yang bergabung untuk menang pilihanraya dengan tidak bertanding melawan sesama mereka.

11. Saya tahu PAS dan DAP tidak suka dengan kehadiran Keadilan yang baru wujud ketuanya Anwar Ibrahim. Mereka tidak mahu tunduk kepada Keadilan atau lantik Anwar sebagai Perdana Menteri. Mereka tidak mahu Keadilan memain peranan seperti UMNO di dalam Barisan Nasional.

12. Hasilnya adalah kekacauan dalam negara. Akan tercetus ketegangan kaum yang akan menjadi lebih buruk.

13. Apa yang saya dapat lihat juga ialah keengganan parti-parti Cina di dalam BN untuk menamakan punca masalah yang sebenar. Secara tertutup, orang Cina seperti juga Melayu, akan mencerca pimpinan Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Tetapi tiada siapa yang akan katakannya secara terbuka. Sebaliknya kita lihat UMNO dijadikan mangsa.

14. Menjadikan UMNO mangsa tidak akan memperbaiki hubungan antara kaum atau meningkatkan mutu Kerajaan BN. Hanya jika Dato Seri Abdullah disingkir, dan hanya jika dianya sudah undur, tiada apa-apa yang boleh dilakukan parti-parti Cina mahupun UMNO untuk memperbaiki hubungan kaum dan pulihkan BN atau meningkatkan keupayaan Kerajaan negara ini.

15. Saya sudah kata yang Dato Seri Najib tidak perlu minta maaf, tetapi UMNO harus ambil tindakan disiplin terhadap Ahmad. Penolakan maaf Najib oleh Gerakan hanya menimbulkan kemarahan orang Melayu. Pada masa yang sama saya tidak rasa sokongan untuk Gerakan dan MCA meningkat.

16. Pimpinan BN sepatutnya memanggil semua pihak yang terlibat dan mempengaruhi mereka agar tidak gunakan isu perkauman. Tetapi pucuk kepimpinan ini takut untuk bersemuka dengan Ahmad Ismail. Sebaliknya dia mengguna Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) untuk menunjukkan yang dia tidak berpihak kepada sesiapa. Sekarang bukan hanya Melayu, tetapi Cina juga semakin marah.

17. Di dalam tulisan saya yang lepas, saya cuba kurangkan perasaan anti-BN. Bagi saya ianya masih merupakan gabungan yang baik, masih lagi institusi yang terbaik di dalam politik Malaysia yang berbilang kaum.

18. Masalahnya ialah kepimpinan yang tidak cekap. Kita tidak karamkan kapal hanya kerana nakhoda tidak cekap. Kita singkirkan nakhoda.

19. Saya tahu akhbar Cina mengatakan yang saya bersifat perkauman. Saya boleh nafikannya tetapi mereka tidak akan terima penafian saya. Tetapi hubungan yang baik antara kaum di Malaysia adalah satu kemestian. Perbalahan antara UMNO, MCA dan Gerakan hanya akan hasilkan ketegangan kaum dan perpecahan dalam BN. Tiada pihak dalam BN yang akan untung.

20. Pimpinan UMNO, MCA dan Gerakan mesti berusaha untuk memperbaiki keadaan ini dan memulihkan semula BN.

21. Tetapi saya akui ianya adalah sukar jika Abdullah masih lagi memimpin BN dan Kerajaan. Sudah tiba masanya UMNO, MCA dan Gerakan bersatu dan paksa Abdullah lepaskan jawatan. Hanya dengan cara ini kita dapat pulihkan BN dan mungkin juga menyusunnya semula. Jika tidak hubungan kaum akan terus merosot dan negara akan jadi mangsa.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Snippets - PUTRAJAYA

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 15, 2008 4:24 PM

PUTRAJAYA

1. Putrajaya, dedicated to Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra is a city built on a greenfield site.

2. It has attracted a lot of visitors, both local and foreign. Many countries have studied the development of Putrajaya when they are planning their new administrative capital.

3. Malaysians are divided in their opinions of this artificially developed city. Some think it is a mega project which costs too much. Some seem to like it.

4. I was still Prime Minister when work on Putrajaya began. I saw the completion of the Prime Minister's complex, the mosque and a part of the buildings lining the boulevard (not to be called boulevard now).

5. I had noticed that the impressive boulevard was to be lined with Government buildings. I had spoken to (the late) Tan Sri Azizan Zainal Abidin, then Chairman of Petronas, the agency chosen to build Putrajaya, remarking the boulevard has only imposing Government Ministries lining it.

6. In America the cities all have central business districts where all the major corporations have their impressive office buildings. In the daytime the area is crowded with business people, office workers etc. Big American cars dropped and picked up the Executives along the main street.

7. The area is usually beautifully landscaped with fountains and monuments dotting the area.

8. However at night the place becomes deserted as all the office workers and businessmen go home. Quietness descends on the area with only an occasional taxi driving through. The fast food restaurants are shut.

9. It is dangerous to venture into the area at night as you may be coshed and robbed.

10. Remembering this I wanted to have the Putrajaya boulevard full of people at night. If you have only Government Offices and Ministries, the place would be deserted at night.

11. Unfortunately the planners want the place to have imposing Government buildings. The businesses should be tucked away somewhere.

12. As I drive through the boulevard at night I am enchanted with the number of lights lining it and the side roads. But there is no life as all the great Ministries are shut up tight, although they are beautifully floodlighted.

13. There are no shops at all, not even a coffee house. Those who have visited gay Paris will remember the brightness and the throngs of people strolling along or sipping drinks at roadside tables in front of brightly lit restaurants. The famous Lido would be crowded with people going to see the shows. Busloads of tourists would throng the bright side streets or sit at café tables watching people going by. The scene is very animated.

14. Famous restaurants and some fast food outlets as well as other shops lined the side roads parallel to the boulevard. Traffic flowed to and fro, unimpeded along the tree lined central boulevard.

15. I can understand why Paris is called the City of Light.

16. Putrajaya has lights almost as bright as those in Paris. But there are almost nobody strolling along the boulevard. It reminds me of the business districts in American cities.

17. I have talked to several people about the importance of having shops and theatres along the boulevard to give life to this beautiful city. But nothing has happened. I believe a big glass-fronted building has been built to house business corporations. It too would be closed at night.

18. More offices are being built but no shops, no restaurants or coffee houses and certainly no places of entertainment of any kind.

19. One of the effects of this rigid confinement to Government buildings on the boulevard is to make Putrajaya a Malay city. Ninety five percent of the people living in Government built flats are Malay Government workers. Although the Government built flats are available to non-Government servants, there are hardly any buyers for them. Certainly there are no Chinese or Indian.

20. I admit being guilty of setting up Putrajaya as the administrative capital. It is very well planned. But it is dull.

21. Not being in the Government, I cannot influence anything anymore. But I hope the powers that be will read this snippet on Putrajaya.

MALAY UNITY AND MALAYSIAN UNITY

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 15, 2008 8:27 AM

1. Malaysia has a multi-racial population but is quite unique in that the division is not just by race alone but by religion, language, culture and economic situation. Unity in such a diversity is extremely difficult to achieve.

2. If we study other nations where people of different ethnic groups have immigrated, we will find that integration and unity depended on several important factors. Firstly the indigenous people or the people who had set up the country make up at least initially, a very big proportion of the population. Additionally they would be dominant and materially successful. The small numbers of immigrants trickling in found it judicious and beneficial to be identified with the numerically superior and powerful dominant inhabitants. They would willingly forget their original languages and adopt the language of the people of the country as well as their culture; they would intermarry and over time they would be totally absorbed and assimilated and identified with the indigenous people. In such a situation unity is not a problem. The United States is one such country where the original language and basic culture of first settlers are accepted by later immigrants.

3. In the old days before the coming of the Europeans the few Chinese and Indians who settled in Malacca adopted the language and much of the culture of the Malays. Though there was no assimilation nevertheless good relations existed between the immigrant settlers and the Malays. Unfortunately when later the China-born Chinese-speaking immigrants dominated in numbers as well as economic wealth, the Malay speaking Baba and Nyonya deliberately dropped their Malay language and Baba culture and reverted to being Chinese in every way possible.

4. Difficulties in assimilation arise when the late comers are more dynamic and better equipped to progress than the indigenous people. A feeling of superiority towards the indigenous people tended to keep the late-comers apart. As their community grew they established separate enclaves and erect invisible barriers against the indigenous. As their numbers grew the separation became deeper.

5. The British are only partly responsible for the separation of the races in Malaysia, for keeping the Malays in the rural areas, the Chinese in the urban areas and the Indians in the estates. The different races are also responsible. They made no attempt to mix together as a matter of preference.

6. The Malays before World War II really believed that the Chinese and Indians were temporary guests who would return to their countries once they had made enough money. So it was at the beginning.

7. Even when they showed signs of staying permanently, the Malays and their Rulers believed the British would honour the treaties which recognised the Malay States as the land of the Malays, the peninsula as Tanah Melayu or Malay Land.

8. But after the Brits returned after the war they talked of "giving" this country to whoever wishes to stay here. Although the Malays rejected this and forced the Malayan Union to be abandoned, they realised that things had changed and they had to recognise the claims of some of the non-Malays at least.

9. To cut a long story short independent Malaysia recognised the citizenship rights of the non-Malays and gave them quite freely. This is unlike many countries in the region where strict conditions were imposed. In fact, some immigrants were actually expelled.

10. The hope at independence was that the non-Malays would accept a single national language and a single national identity. But it became clear very quickly that the Chinese and the Indians wanted to retain their identities, their mother tongue and their culture. They did not want to be solely Malaysians, certainly not Malays.

11. At the beginning some prominent people tried multi-racial politics but this was rejected by the ordinary Malays, Chinese and Indians. In the end we settled for a compromise - retain your racial identity but cooperate with each other in a coalition of racial parties.

12. Politically it was a good formula and it worked. But when English schools were abolished and the Malay, Chinese and Indians children went to their own schools rather than to the national schools where the teaching was in the National Language. The hope for true national integration faded. After this even the attempt to put the schools from the three language streams in one campus was rejected by the Chinese.

13. It is no good blaming the politicians for perpetuating racial schism. Some of them who tried to ignore racial loyalties simply failed politically. For various reasons the races preferred to stay separated. They may meet at their work place or the playing field but they go home to separate enclaves according to their race.

14. We had opted for democracy and popularity decides who rules the country. Those who reject racialism simply lost popular support. But those who embrace racialism won.

15. They are not racists. The leaders of the different races were, at least in the beginning, able to get along well with each other. They developed close friendship. But they had to be very conscious of their racial backing and to cater to racial demands.

16. The lower ranking leaders, the ordinary members of political parties and the people as a whole had shown no sign of forgetting their racial identity. There may be few liberal minded ones who reject race, but some who do this do so because they believe their own race would gain by it. So even these people are racialist at heart.

17. Then came the resurgence of Islam worldwide. The Malaysian Malays began to adopt Islamic conservativeness especially with the dress code. This tended to push them further apart from the non-Muslims who saw this as an attempt to differentiate Muslim Malaysians from non-Muslim Malaysians. Some people suspect that this is the intention.

18. The behaviour of some extremist exponents of Islamic separateness did not help.

19. And so the races drifted further and further apart. All the time the so-called non-racial parties with their single-minded campaign against the positions of the Malays and Islam as agreed upon at the beginning actually intensified Malay racial sentiments, causing them to yearn for Malay unity rather than Malaysian unity.

20. The ideal of having a non-racial Malaysian nationality has now been almost forgotten. As the self-proclaimed non-racists attacked Malay racialism, the feeling among the Malays hardened. Openly the Malays have not attacked Chinese racialism as manifested by their practical rejection of the use of the National language, their rejection of the National schools, their Malaysian Malaysia slogan. If they do it would be muted and certainly not as blatant as non-Malay attacks against Malay racialism.

21. The Malays have seen what has happened to the Malays of Singapore and they have no desire to be like Singapore Malays.

22. So their reaction is to seek for Malay unity. They feel threatened, and their fear is real. Admittedly there are among the younger educated Malays a few who claim to reject Malay unity. But these people do not represent the vast majority of the Malays.

23. Malay unity, if it becomes stronger will make it more difficult to bring about Malaysian unity. But it must be remembered that the Chinese and Indian are also keen to retain their identities more and more. The Hindraf memorandum is very telling. And the Chinese educationists want even stronger role for Chinese language.

24. The trend is obviously against Malaysian Unity. A weak and unstable Government with its crude attempts to win over the different races through giving in on all demands does not help. Every time it gives in to the demands of one race it simply antagonises and pushes the other races further away.

25. If we still want Malaysian Unity we need to be willing to make sacrifices regarding what we consider to be our racial rights. Everyone has to do this. The leaders must be given some mandate to discuss these matters in private and to make concessions. After each step the lower rung leaders of each race must be given full briefing as to why the concessions have to be made. It would be useless if they don't agree.

26. Provided we can roll back the present unhealthy trends and redirect it towards more positive non-racial objectives, provided we do this slowly by small steps we may be able to create a truly Malaysian identity where race would gradually become less important. It will take time but with sincerity we may reverse the present trends and move towards increasing co-operation and integration.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Snippets - Corruption Report

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 12, 2008 5:37 PM

Corruption Report

1. Wonder what has happened to Mazlan Harun's report to the Anti Corruption Agency regarding corrupt acts by Dato Seri Abdullah and Dato Seri Najib, President and Deputy President respectively of UMNO.

2. According to Kadar Shah the report had also been made to the party but he did not think the party would act. It would incriminate the leaders of the party itself.

3. Previously when UMNO members in my former division of Kubang Pasu came with evidence Justify Fullthat money was used to persuade the delegates not to vote for me, the case was dismissed by the UMNO Disciplinary Committee even though clear evidence were presented that they had been paid money not to vote for me.

4. Since Mazlan Harun is against corruption by the UMNO President himself, it is most unlikely that any action would be taken on the accusation.

5. However, the report was also made to the ACA. Will the ACA act? As a Government agency, it should act without fear or favour.

6. I hate to make this comparison but in Israel the Prime Minister has been accused of corruption and the police carried out an investigation and found there was a case for the Prime Minister to be charged. Will we see this in our Malaysia?

7. There was a case involving a deputy minister who was accused of taking a bribe of 5 million ringgit. The Attorney-General said there was no case as the person alleged to have bribed the deputy minister denied that he gave any money.

8. Perhaps if the ACA asks the PM whether he had given any money to delegations from UMNO branches, he may deny it or give some spurious explanations. Will the ACA then conclude there is no case for the Prime Minister to answer?!

Friday, September 12, 2008

THE BARISAN NASIONAL

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 12, 2008 8:15 AM

(Versi Bahasa Malaysia di akhir artikel ini)

1. There is a tendency these days to condemn the National Front as being effete and an obstacle to the modern concepts of a free democratic Government. The miserable performance of the Barisan Nasional in the March elections is attributed by foreign observers as evidence of a wind of change, as a rejection of race-based politics of the past.

2. They believe that the Malay, Chinese and Indian voters voted for a change to a more liberal regime.

3. I have explained in a previous article that the debacle suffered by the Barisan Nasional was due to the voters' disgust with the leadership of Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

4. Let us examine the course of Malaysian politics leading up to the 2008 debacle in order to appreciate what happened. For almost half a century the Alliance / Barisan Nasional Governments had had the full support of the peoples of all races. There were ups and downs but the Barisan Nasional would invariably win elections with a 2/3 majority in Parliament. Other than Kelantan, the states had always elected Barisan Nasional Governments. Sabah for a time was not with Barisan Nasional.

5. In 1999 Elections Malay support of the Barisan Nasional was eroded because of sympathy for Anwar Ibrahim. But the Chinese strongly backed the Barisan Nasional to give it its usual 2/3rd majority and opposition stalwarts like Karpal Singh and Lim Kit Siang, who had never been defeated before, lost their seats.

6. Had the trend been towards change and rejection of the Barisan Nasional the 2004 election would show this. But far from being rejected the Barisan Nasional swept through with its best ever result, getting 9/10th of the seats in Parliament, regaining Terengganu and almost capturing Kelantan.

7. All signs point to the total acceptance of the Barisan Nasional and the Governments it had formed. And why not? Had not the Barisan Nasional built this country until it has become the most developed of developing countries, conducted free elections, brought stability and unprecedented economic development and achieved a degree of racial harmony which is the model for many multiracial countries of the world.

8. It was not all smooth sailing of course. There were problems - political, economic, religious and social. But all these had not reduced support for the Barisan Nasional or affected the progress and stability of the country under BN Governments unduly.

9. Can anyone say that the Barisan Nasional had not provided good Governments in the country? Of course the opposition cannot be expected to say it. But foreign observers have all been astounded at the progress made by this tin and rubber country which had bloomed into a modern industrial country.

10. There were people who all along had criticised what they term as the lack of democracy in this country, the "controlled" press and electronic media, the ISA (Internal Security Act) and curbs on the open discussion of sensitive issues. But obviously these people were in the minority and had never been able to influence the voters into rejecting Barisan Nasional.

11. After the stunning victory of Barisan Nasional in 2004 why has it been clearly rejected in 2008? What happened between 2004 and 2008? Can it be that after almost 50 years of supporting race-based politics the voters have decided to reject it and opt for non-racial politics? Have the people in the kampong suddenly yearned for more liberalism? If so why did they give strong support to PAS, a race-religious party which is anything but liberal?

12. Maybe the ordinary Chinese are more sophisticated than the rural Malays. Maybe they have now rejected racial politics. But as far as can be made out the Chinese are upset over the economic situation. Even hawkers and small traders; the subcontractors, the retail shops owners are unhappy with the Government. They are however very cautious about criticising Dato Seri Abdullah but when pressed they admit that they wanted Abdullah out but dared not say it aloud for fear of being accused of rejecting Malay leadership. They also worry about their businesses being singled out for some unpleasant treatment like being investigated by the Inland Revenue Board.

13. So, unable to do anything else they cast their votes for the opposition. With that the Barisan Nasional, after getting the biggest number of Parliamentary seats in the history of the Alliance / Barisan Nasional went down and achieved the worst result in its history. Was this rejection of Barisan candidates due to the rejection of the Barisan Nasional coalition?

14. The votes that the opposition parties got were not due to a desire to replace the Barisan Nasional with the unstructured Pakatan Rakyat. They were protest votes. But is it protest against the Barisan Nasional party? Is it a rejection of race-based politics? I don't think so.

15. It is a protest against the poor leadership of the BN, rather than the BN itself. The people saw a BN leader who was indecisive, unable to deal with the increasing cost of living, flip-flopping, unable to stimulate the economy and above all is known for putting his family's interest above that of State. Everyone knows about the 4th Floor and the role of Khairy Jamaluddin's cronies in determining policies and deciding on the business activities of the country. People consider these arrogant young people as contributing to the poor performance of the Prime Minister.

16. The Barisan Nasional coalition is still the best political party in Malaysia. It gave due consideration to the problems of all the Malaysian parties and the races they represent. And there can be no denying that the BN had built the Malaysia that we see today.

17. It would be a pity if, as the Malay saying goes, "we burn the mosquito net because of one mosquito".

18. What needs to be done is to get rid of the mosquito but continue to use the net.

*****


BARISAN NASIONAL

1. Terdapat kecenderungan sejak kebelakangan ini untuk menolak Barisan Nasional sebagai tidak lagi bermaya dan penghalang kepada konsep Kerajaan moden yang bebas dan demokratik. Prestasi BN yang lemah pada pilihanraya umum Mac lalu dikatakan pemerhati asing sebagai bukti perubahan sikap, iaitu penolakan politik berlandaskan kaum sebagaimana yang diamalkan sekian lama.

2. Mereka percaya pengundi Melayu, Cina dan India mengundi untuk menukar kepada rejim yang lebih liberal.

3. Saya telah huraikan dalam artikel sebelum ini yang kemerosotan yang dialami Barisan Nasional disebabkan kebencian pengundi terhadap kepimpinan Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

4. Mari kita analisa haluan politik Malaysia sehingga ke prestasi buruk pada tahun 2008 supaya kita lebih faham akan apa yang sebenarnya terjadi. Selama setengah abad Kerajaan Perikatan / Barisan Nasional telah mendapat sokongan penuh rakyat berbilang kaum. Walaupun terdapat turun naik dalam sokongan tetapi Barisan Nasional tetap akan menang pilihanraya-pilihanraya umum dengan mendapat 2/3 kerusi Parlimen. Selain Kelantan, negeri-negeri biasanya memilih Kerajaan Barisan Nasional. Sabah pada satu ketika tidak bersama Barisan Nasional.

5. Pada pilihanraya umum tahun 1999 sokongan Melayu kepada Barisan Nasional menurun kerana simpati kepada Anwar Ibrahim. Tetapi kaum Cina menyokong kuat Barisan Nasional dan seperti biasa menentukan majoriti 2/3 tercapai. Demikian orang kuat pembangkang seperti Karpal Singh dan Lim Kit Siang, yang tidak pernah kalah sebelumnya, kehilangan kerusi mereka.

6. Jika terdapat angin perubahan dan penolakan terhadap Barisan Nasional, ianya sepatutnya ditunjuk dalam pilihanraya umum 2004. Tetapi sebaliknya Barisan Nasional mencapai keputusan terbaik dengan mendapat 9/10 kerusi Parlimen, merampas kembali Terengganu dan hampir menawan Kelantan.

7. Semua isyarat menunjuk kepada penerimaan secara bulat Barisan Nasional dan Kerajaan yang ianya telah tubuhkan. Dan kenapa tidak? Bukankah Barisan Nasional telah bina negara ini hingga ianya menjadi negara yang termaju dikalangan negara membangun, mengadakan pilihanraya bebas, membawa kestabilan dan kemajuan ekonomi yang tiada bandingannya dan mencapai tahap keharmonian kaum yang menjadi contoh kepada banyak negara berbilang kaum di dunia.

8. Bukanlah ianya sentiasa tenang. Terdapat juga masalah - politik, ekonomi, agama dan social. Tetapi semua ini tidakpun mengurangkan sokongan terhadap Barisan Nasional atau menganggu kemajuan dan kestabilan negara dibawah Kerajaan BN.

9. Bolehkah sesiapa berkata bahawa Barisan Nasional tidak menyediakan kerajaan yang baik untuk negara ini? Tentulah pihak pembangkang tidak akan berkata demikian. Tetapi pemerhati asing ramai yang kagum melihat kemajuan negara bijih timah dan getah ini bertukar menjadi negara industri yang moden.

10. Terdapat mereka yang sentiasa mengkritik dengan menuduh yang negara ini kurang demokratik, media cetak dan elektronik yang dikawal, ISA (Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri) dan halangan kepada perdebatan terbuka berkenaan isu-isu sensitif. Tetapi mereka ini tergolong dalam puak minoriti dan amat jelas tidak berjaya mempengaruhi pengundi untuk menolak Barisan Nasional.

11. Selepas kemenangan Barisan Nasional yang menakjubkan pada 2004 kenapakah ianya secara terang ditolak pada 2008? Apa yang terjadi di antara 2004 dan 2008? Mungkinkah selepas 50 tahun menyokong politik berlandaskan kaum pengundi memutuskan untuk menolaknya dan menyokong politik bukan perkauman? Adakah pengundi-pengundi di pedalaman dan di kampung tiba-tiba mengkehendakkan keadaan yang lebih liberal? Jika ya kenapa mereka begitu kuat menyokong PAS, parti yang berlandaskan kaum-agama yang jauh sekali liberal?

12. Mungkin orang Cina lebih berfikiran moden daripada Melayu kampung. Mungkin mereka ini sudah tolak politik perkauman. Tetapi sebanyak mana yang diketahui, orang Cina amat tidak puas hati dengan keadaan ekonomi. Penjaja dan peniaga kecil; sub-kontraktor, pemilik kedai runcit semuanya amat tidak puas hati dengan Kerajaan ini. Mereka amat berhati-hati dalam mengkritik Dato Seri Abdullah tetapi apabila ditekan mereka akui yang mereka mahu Abdullah diusir tetapi takut menyatakannya secara terbuka kerana tidak mahu dituduh menolak kepimpinan Melayu. Mereka juga risau jika perniagaan mereka diganggu seperti disiasat Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri.

13. Oleh kerana mereka tidak dapat berbuat apa-apa mereka mengundi pembangkang. Dengan itu Barisan Nasional, selepas mencapai jumlah tertinggi kerusi Parlimen dalam sejarah Perikatan / Barisan Nasional telah tersungkur dan mendapat keputusan yang paling buruk dalam sejarahnya. Adakah penolakan calon-calon Barisan Nasional ini kerana penolakan perikatan Barisan Nasional?

14. Undi yang didapati parti pembangkang bukanlah kerana kemahuan untuk mengganti Barisan Nasional dengan Pakatan Rakyat yang tidak teratur ini. Ianya adalah undi protes. Tetapi apakah protes ini terhadap parti Barisan Nasional? Apakah ianya penolakan politik berlandaskan kaum? Saya tak fikir begitu.

15. Ianya adalah protes terhadap kepimpinan lesu BN dan bukannya terhadap BN itu sendiri. Rakyat melihat pimpinan BN yang tidak berupaya membuat keputusan, tidak berupaya menangani masalah kenaikan kos sara hidup, berdolak-dalik, tidak berjaya merancakkan ekonomi dan yang terutamanya terkenal kerana meletakkan kepentingan keluarga lebih utama daripada negara. Semua orang tahu berkenaan dengan Tingkat 4 dan peranan kroni Khairy Jamaluddin di dalam menetapkan dasar-dasar dan memutuskan aktiviti-aktiviti perniagaan negara. Rakyat melihat golongan muda yang angkuh ini sebagai menyumbang kepada prestasi lemah Perdana Menteri.

16. Barisan Nasional masih lagi parti politik yang terbaik di Malaysia. Ianya memberi banyak ruang penyelesaian kepada masalah parti-parti di Malaysia dan kaum-kaum yang mereka wakili. Dan tidak dapat dinafikan yang BN telah membangunkan Malaysia sebagaimana yang kita lihat hari ini.

17. Amat sedih jika kita, seperti kata pepatah Melayu, "marahkan nyamuk, kelambu dibakar".

18. Apa yang harus dibuat ialah menghalau nyamuk tetapi kelambu terus dipakai.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

THE SOCIAL CONTRACT 3

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on September 10, 2008 5:17 PM

1. I am sorry to have to revert to the social contract issue again because of some disturbing development.

2. Young Malays, including professionals are said to have espoused liberalism and meritocracy. They question the need for affirmative action and the New Economic Policy. They believe that the Malays should compete with the other races. If they fail then they do not deserve the dominant role in the politics of Malaysia. They should accept non-Malay leadership of the country.

3. This view of the young Malays sounds refreshing. Unfortunately these liberal Malays are in a minority. The majority of the Malay professionals and young Malays have hardened their stand on the position of their race since the disaster of 2008. They are incensed especially by the arrogance of the Bar Council. They now question the social contract and reject the need to adhere to it. This sounds almost like the Chinese stand. But the difference is startling and disturbing.

4. They disagree with the Tunku giving the one million citizenship without regard for the conditions for getting citizenship.

5. They say before this the Malays made up the majority of the citizens. They could rule the country by themselves. But the Tunku reduced this Malay majority until they have to depend on non-Malay support. To them the humiliation they are facing are entirely due to the Tunku.

6. This act by the Tunku is part of the social contract. They reject it and they demand that the Tunku's action should be considered to be against the constitution and should be rejected. They demand that the citizenship given by the Tunku should be withdrawn or nullified.

7. They also question the other concessions given the non-Malay communities, especially the schools and the use of other languages.

8. In short they seem to reject the social contract altogether and to go back to the situation before the leaders of the communities made their bargain.

9. Questioned as to what would happen if the British refused to give independence, they suggested that the Malays resort to armed struggle and co-operation with a neighbouring country. They suggested that we should have formed Melayu Raya together with this neighbouring country.

10. I must admit the retrogression of their viewpoint but this is becoming more current as the debate on the social contract goes on. They are particularly incensed by the Bar Council which seems to them to be questioning Malay rights according to the agreement in the social contract.

11. So far we hear only the non-Malays rejecting the social contract. This is the first time I hear of Malays rejecting the social contract. I think the Government should handle this problem carefully. Otherwise it may become widespread and effect the fragile harmony between the different races.

12. I did not like putting this on my blog. But I have no access to the Government. In any case I doubt the Government would take this twist on the Social Contract seriously. Dato Seri Abdullah would deny that anything is happening.

13. Malaysia had remained stable for half a century because sensitive issues were not publicly discussed. The Government now appears to practice selective freedom of speech. As long as you don't attack the Government especially Dato Seri Abdullah you may say what you like whether racist or seditious. But if you attack the Government or Dato Seri Abdullah every effort would be made to silence you or to keep you out of the news.

14. The selective freedom is stirring up racist feelings everywhere. Hence the remarks made by the State Assemblywoman from Perak and Dato Ahmad Ismail in Penang. And now we see the support given to Ahmad and his condemnation of MCA and Gerakan leaders by all the 13 UMNO divisions in Penang.

15. I believe racist sentiments among Malays and non-Malays are rising. If it flares up the stability of this country may be affected permanently. We may see political wrangling of the kind we see in several other countries. In the process the economy of this country would be destroyed.

16. This slide must be stopped. No one should disregard the obligation to uphold the social contract.

17. That understanding between the leaders of the three races had served us well. So has the ban on questioning certain provisions in the Constitution.

18. I had tried during my time to balance the treatment of the different races. I had been labeled a racist before. But towards the end of my tenure the Chinese in particular supported me. But throughout I never forgot my obligations to the Malays.

19. Dato Seri Abdullah has tried to placate everyone. He has given one billion Ringgit here, one billion Ringgit there; he has given unknown sums of money to Tun Salleh Abbas and the other judges who had been dismissed in order to placate the Bar Council, he has promised billions of Ringgit for numerous corridors, billions for transport, lower oil prices etc etc. But no one believes him because the promises and fund allocations have not materialised. The fact is that nobody believes him or trusts him. No one has been placated.

20. The racialist trend will continue. I frankly don't think Dato Seri Abdullah can handle it.

21. What is the solution? Right thinking people must make their rejection of Dato Seri Abdullah's leadership heard. If we don't then whatever racial harmony that exist would be eroded and will destroy this beloved country.