Tuesday, September 2, 2008

MENGENANG BUDI PEMIMPIN LAMA

7btc
As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at www.chedet.com on August 31, 2008 2:55 PM

1. Kebaikan blog ialah kita dapat suarakan apa sahaja pendapat kita. Justeru itu saya berterimakasih kerana perbezaan pendapat daripada pembaca blog saya dapat dimaklumkan kepada saya.

2. Izinkan saya buat sedikit penjelasan.

3. Kata Fonaku ; "Fact is Tun, you were now treated by your replacement the same way you treated Tunku Abdul Rahman masa dia keluar UMNO."

4. Benarkah? Tunku did not join UMNO Baru. But he was free to support those who were against me. He was free to write critically in his newspaper column and in his books. He could talk with anyone in my Cabinet or with UMNO leaders. I never restricted him in any way.

5. I owed nothing personally to Tunku. He expelled me from UMNO. For certain I would not be allowed to return to UMNO, much less to become Prime Minister if he could get his way.

6. I still regard him as a great leader. That is why I named the new administrative capital built entirely during my time "Putrajaya".

7. When I was Minister of Education I was in charge of his foundation and I worked hard to get contributions to it and to oversee the investments that it made. Although I have rejected all offers of property by the Kedah Government and Federal Government, I approved giving a certain property to Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra.

8. Whenever I met him I showed full respect and gave him precedence.

9. Apart from naming the administrative capital "Putrajaya" I was instrumental in setting up each a memorial to keep records of the life and work of Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra and Tun Abdul Razak. I did not do the same for Tun Hussein Onn because Johore wanted the memorial to be set up by the people of Johore.

10. When I wanted to step down there was a proposal for a memorial library for the four Prime Ministers. The Perdana Leadership Foundation, funded entirely by the private sector, Malays, Chinese and Indians, is the result.

11. In this Foundation all the work, policies, speeches, reports, films and videos of the services rendered by Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak and Tun Hussein while they were Prime Minister are documented, preserved and stored. Future generations will be able to learn about them and remember them. If in this Foundation there are also records about me, it is because people, researchers ask for them.

12. The world trade centre was launched by me and named Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC). All the halls and tower are named after leaders of UMNO including Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman.

13. A painting records all the struggles from Tunku to the prersent. The picture of Dato Onn as the first president of UMNO is prominently displayed in the entrance lobby.

14. Perhaps I should repeat that Tunku did not make me the Prime Minister but I personally appointed Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Deputy Prime Minister despite the fact that he had tried to topple me when he was Minister in my Cabinet.

15. I had not been able to appoint three other Deputy Prime Ministers as Prime Minister but I appointed Dato Seri Abdullah as my successor and Prime Minister, although Najib was the first Vice President with the highest votes.

16. It would not be wrong to say that his appointment was due to me. I did not expect him to continue to take orders from me after I retired. But the bridge to replace the causeway was approved by the Cabinet of which he was a member as Deputy Prime Minister. He had promised me personally that he would approve the final steps to get the railway to be built.

17. Two weeks after I stepped down he stopped the railway project and later the bridge project.

18. It is his right to renege on his undertakings. But I had never given Tunku Abdul Rahman any undertaking, any promise.

19. One cannot change course always because of adverse comments. I accepted some comments but rejected some.

20. The 12th General Election and the Permatang Pauh by-election clearly showed rejection of Dato Seri Abdullah's leadership. But has he responded? Not at all.

21. I don't ask to be appreciated. I merely put these things down to set the records straight.