Tun Dr. Mahathir: I admit I'm wrong

I don't know what motivates me to say YES to Fendy when he invited me to join him and his friends to attend a talk by the former Prime Minister, organised by Kumpulan Prihatin Malaysia, in Manchester. And what puzzling me is, when it was free back then in 1999 I refused to attend it but this time, when it's not free, I decided to pay 8 pound sterling to listen to what Tun Dr. Mahathir wanted to talk. This is what I call 'pelik bin ajaib'!



Before I proceed with my take on Tun Dr. Mahathir's speech last Saturday afternoon, allow me to put forward my stance on budaya mengampu or what some people call as apple polishing. I have nothing against the act of giving out compliment, but I personally think the full title of this event is a little bit too much. Why can't they call it "Sejenak Bersama Tun Mahathir". Full stop. Why must add, "Jasamu Dikenang"? This reminds me of all those corny so-called patriotic songs on RTM. I still wonder until today, why must we thank Malaysia, instead of the Almighty God, for the prosperity and peace all this while? Hmmm...

It was a full house. As always, Tun Dr. Mahathir and Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah look very healthy and in the case of Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah, bubbly!


Frankly speaking, almost everything that came out from his mouth in that Saturday afternoon was not something that I haven't heard before, such as why he made so much noise about Pak Lah's administration and his unfavourable remarks on Anwar Ibrahim.

Nevertheless, the following revelations worth to be highlighted:

1. Tun Dr Mahathir admited that he was wrong to proceed with the teach-Mathematics-and-Science-in-English policy. However, he explained that his intention is to improve the state of English among the Malaysian students as well as to spearhead the pursuit of knowledge which is vastly available in English.
2. He didn't believe his people, including the police, when he was informed by them about Anwar Ibrahim's sex scandal until he met the victims/accussers (he said Azizan and the women) himself. One of them, even came with ibunya.
3. "I don't read her (Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir) blog. Isteri saya sahaja yang baca".

And this is my response to the above:

1. No one denies the importance of learning English in today's world, but the said policy is not the only remedy available at this stage. Why don't we start with capacity and capability building measures such as increase the number of teachers to teach English at school, especially in the rural and continuously enhancing the curriculum/module for English subject. Or at least, add more hours for English subject. Just to share my experience as a student tutor at the St. Wilfrid RC Primary School, here in Manchester, students are given the option to learn Mathematics in other languages such as Urdu and Polish. Anyhow, it is good to hear that Tun Dr. Mahathir has admitted his mistake. So, to present governments, be it kerajaan Barisan Nasional or kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat, please have the courage to admit your wrongs if you did any mistakes.
2. This confirms my curiousity that Tun Dr. Mahathir belief of Anwar Ibrahim's homosexuality is based on allegation made by Azizan. Interestingly enough, Azizan had confessed when he was under the oath during the court trial that Anwar Ibrahim has never sodomised him. Jadi, macam mana sekarang ni?
3. Since Tun Dr. Mahathir claimed that Pak Lah's administration has denied his right to meet and talk to rakyat by putting pressure on organisers to withdraw any invitation to him, I guess blog would be a better alternative for our ex-PM to put forward his constructive views/critics so that more people could read/listen to what he want to write/say. In addition, more rakyat could have the opportunity to post any comments or questions, and not constraint by time as compared to the Q&A sessions after his talks. Nowadays, more and more Barisan Nasional politicians have joined their counterparts from the Pakatan Rakyat in blogging. And thanks to Allah (instead of thanking Malaysia), our national security has yet to be compromised by any bloggers.

I still remember when the people asked Dr. Mahathir to step down in 1999, he said that he doesn't want to leave a weak UMNO to his successor but will do so at a stipulated time frame once UMNO and Barisan Nasional has successfully been rejuvenated. Similarly, Tun Dr. Mahathir should allow Pak Lah does the same thing, if Tun Dr. Mahathir is really a person who follows a tradition as he claimed he was.

"Zaman Tunku pun tiada perbahasan politik yang bebas. Zaman Tun Razak tak ada, zaman Hussein Onn pun tiada. Saya cuma ikut tradisi saja."

Mahathir, will always be Mahathir. He expressed his disappointment towards ungrateful politicians who he has appointed and groomed during his 22-years in power, but ended-up had 'maki'ed him after he retired.

I guess Tun Dr. Mahathir has also been affected by this so-called mudah-lupa syndrome, because even though PAS had given him the platform to continue his political career after he was sacked from UMNO, that doesn't stop him from attacking PAS. And as much as he reiterates that he didn't do any injustice to the person who he picked and groomed to be his successor, Tun Mahathir, based on his ranting last Saturday, seems to forget that he too has benefited from his association with Anwar Ibrahim especially in shielding his government from deadly attacks from PAS, especially on Islamic state and hudud. Or his second worst nightmare i.e. Team A versus Team B?

Wahai Tun... ada Melayu yang TIDAK MUDAH LUPA.