It wouldn't be wrong to say that he is the only Prime Minister I know. As a rookie reporter in Penang, I covered Tunku Abdul Rahman briefly. He was already in poor health then and we had difficulties communicating. I was just too young for him to take seriously.
But I covered Dr Mahathir Mohamad for most of his 22 years as PM. I travelled with him overseas, often to places we could only dreamed of. On these trips, Rocky Bru was often my travelling mate. But Dr M was a serious man. He had little love for idle chats. The generation gap didn't help either.
In 1987, he shut down The Star and for five months I was out of job. He jailed his opponents under the ISA. As he talked about democracy and press freedom, he would probably be dismissed cynically. He never was a democrat.
But many of us never held that against him. He was a good leader and certainly he instilled confidence in Malaysians although the "Malaysia Boleh" spirit went too far as times. As Malaysians, we held our heads high and in some strange cities we went to, people stopped us and asked us about Dr Mahathir. The Twin Towers, too, of course.
He spoke up for the Third World and awed Asians, Africans and South Americans.
But under his leadership, the judiciary was stained. Judges were sacked and Anwar was jailed. Money politics made its mark in Ummo and corruption worsened.
He gave The Star his first interview only after he stepped down. He never liked the newspaper for some strange reasons.
Later, when I wrote that he did not do much to fight corruption during his 22 years in office, he blew his top. I was with Malaysiakini editor Steven Gan attending a press forum in South Korea when Dr M called a press conference in KL to criticise me. The Cheras Umno chief called for my sacking at the Umno general assembly.
But after over two decades in journalism, being criticised by politicians and readers have become part of the job.
Nothing has really changed. Today, it was vintage Dr M speaking in the BBC "Hardtalk" programme. The man has been consistent, that's all. At the end of the day, you either love him or loathe him. For many Malaysians, it's a bit of both.
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6 comments:
Yes, very true.We support yr comment Dato.He is too much.
Yes very true.He is too much.Let get him off.
Dato, that is real calour or Tun Mahathir.He never change.We must chase.He getting to much.Lets blow up Cheras Division story where he hits Pak Lah.
whatever said about Tun...i still like this men for many reasons i my self dont know at times.hes a leader from the time i started following local politics.atleast he was a better Prime Minister then the present one.he dont listen to his son in-laws and daughter in-laws!.no fourth floor even though he was the architect of Putrajaya.no fox,no sailing,no corridoors,no 5 opposition states,no son in-law MP,no 82 MP's from opposition in parliament,no rejection of PM's choice for MB's post,no K's and finally his family was not his advicers on how to run our country!.
I actually felt sorry for him, watching him on Hardtalk. He was painted as a racist, bitter old despot. He did a lot for Malaysia but he also damaged it a lot for future generations. Under his rule, corruption flourished, the judiciary was distrusted, money politics blossomed and press freedom suffered. As much as he grew Malaysia, he stunted it through his other actions. We can learn from his successes but then, we can also learn from the success of countries like Singapore, China and India. But what we learn from his shortcomings and the abuses under his rule is something not many people of other countries can learn. The most ironic thing is that he and Anwar Ibrahim damaged this country so much in the last 25 years. Yet today, both want to portray themselves as saviours. The problems the BN faced in the 2008 elections which led to their poor showing are a result of the legacy of Mahathir and Anwar. Abdullah Badawi's fault is that he hardly did anything to reverse or act against the abuses. And it is as much Umno's fault as it is Badawi's. Buty Umno became what it is because of Mahathir and Anwar and Badawi paid the price - deservedly, for his eak leadership - for their doing.
100% loathing here.
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