Malaysia’s politics is politics of hate

That night, after everyone had been seated, Dr Mahathir at the ‘main table’, Nik Aziz suddenly walked in to the hall unannounced. No one knew he was coming. In fact, he had not even been invited. But he is the Menteri Besar of that state and Dr Mahathir is the ex-Prime Minister of Malaysia. So Nik Aziz wanted to ‘pay his respects’ to Dr Mahathir by attending the dinner even though they did not invite him.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Kit Siang says does not hate Dr M but rejects ‘Mahathirism’

(The Malaysian Insider) - Lim Kit Siang today denied harbouring hatred for his long-time political rival Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, suggesting instead that he dislikes the influential leader’s brand of politics.

In the escalating war of words between the political veterans, the DAP parliamentary leader continued to allege that Dr Mahathir has been working very hard to keep his “Mahathirism” alive in the ruling Umno through corruption and cronyism.

Lim also disagreed that former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was voted out of power for mistreating his predecessor Dr Mahathir, saying instead that Abdullah, or “Pak Lah”, had lost in Election 2008 for failing to dismantle the Mahathir legacy of corruption, cronyism and abuses of power.

“He (Dr Mahathir has) stoked racial fears among the Malays with his warnings that Malays will lose power if Umno loses the next general election,” the veteran politician said in a statement here.

Lim added that the country’s longest serving prime minister had also further incited racial tension by claiming the coming 13th general election would be about race and that Chinese voters would be the kingmakers in the polls.

“(These) exhortations are not only untrue, most incendiary and highly provocative, but totally against five decades of Malaysian nation-building, his own Vision 2020 of Bangsa Malaysia and Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia concept,” he said.

The Ipoh Timor MP was responding to Dr Mahathir’s exclusive interview with an online portal yesterday where the former prime minister had said he “did not know why he (Lim) hates me so much” and added that attacks from the opposition party would only bolster ruling government BN.

Despite retiring in 2003, Dr Mahathir continues to loom large over the Malaysian political landscape and has been seen as Barisan Nasional’s (BN) lead campaigner of late, ahead of polls that must be called soon.

But Lim has repeatedly rubbished Dr Mahathir’s assertions and in recent weeks, accused Umno of “playing a dangerous game of lies” by stoking fears that could split Malaysia along racial lines in its bid to win over Malay voters at the polls.

He said voters must choose between a government that promotes racial policies and one that espouses democracy, good governance and equitable economic practices in the coming general election.

Lim has also claimed that Najib’s uncertainty in winning the next general election has resulted in “desperate” tactics by Umno leaders and strategists.

Today, Lim urged all Malaysian voters to unite and prove Dr Mahathir’s assertions wrong.

“The return of Mahathirism is rejected conclusively and decisively to send out the clear message that the 13GE is not about race but about the future of a united, harmonious, just and progressive Malaysia,” he said, adding “(where) corruption, cronyism and abuses of power are relegated to the dustbins of history”.

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“Let me assure Mahathir that I do not hate him at all but I am opposed to Mahathirism,” said Lim Kit Siang. Now Kit Siang is saying what I said, although he has not quite put it the way I did. Basically, according to Kit Siang, this is not about hating Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad but about hating what he stands for. I suppose, as the Christians would say, hate the sin, not the sinner.

Is Kit Siang a load of bullshit? Are Christians a load of bullshit? I don’t think so. I think what they say makes sense. And I, too, say the same thing. And what I said was: this is not just about propagating ABU (anything but Umno). It is about rejecting anything that smacks of Umno culture.

Now, for the benefit of those who do not understand English that well, let me explain what this means. ‘This is not just about ABU’ means kicking out Umno is not enough. It does not mean DO NOT kick Umno out, as many of you have interpreted this to mean. We need to eradicate the culture that has brought Malaysia down to the level it is at now. And we do not want to see this same culture in the opposition as well. Hence those in the opposition who perpetuate this same culture need to also be rejected.

I do not hate Islam. I do not hate any religion for that matter. What I hate is what some Muslims do, especially when they hide behind Islam in doing all this and tell us that they are doing this in the name of Islam. Do I not say often enough that Muslims are Islam’s greatest enemy? Muslims conduct themselves in ways that bring ridicule to Islam.

Another thing we always do, when we hate someone we reject what this person says even if he or she says the right thing. For example, I have always said that I hate these snap elections. I feel that the opposition should not be ‘ambushed’ with a general election. This is not fair to the opposition. It catches them off-guard.

Furthermore, when no one knows when the election is going to be held, everyone is in election mode. Hence every day is election campaign day. This is a waste of valuable resources. Everyone spends his or her time campaigning instead of spending this time running the country.

I feel that the date of the elections should be set at every five years since this is basically what the Federal Constitution of Malaysia says must be done: elections must be held every five years. Hence, since the last general election was held on 8th March 2008, then the next one should be held on 8th March 2013, and then 8th March 2018, and so on till the end of time (or until Parliament changes this to once every four years or six years or whatever).

This would mean we do not need to spend four or five years campaigning. We can start campaigning, say, in January of election year, around three months or so before the elections. Then we can spend the rest of the time running the country. Currently, no one is running the country. Everyone is just campaigning, expecting the elections ‘any day now’. And we have been campaigning since 9th March 2008, the day after the last general election.

Now, this is what Nazri Aziz is proposing. But because we hate Umno and Nazri, we rubbish what he says even though what he says is good. I agree with this idea. I have, in fact, been saying this myself. Fix the date of the general elections. And set this date as every five years -- 8th March 2008, 8th March 2013, 8th March 2018, etc. That is the correct thing to do, as even Nazri Aziz appears to think so.

So why whack Nazri? We whack him not because he said the wrong thing. We whack him even if he says the right thing. And this is because he is ‘the enemy’. Tun Dr Mahathir is also ‘the enemy’. Hence when Marina Mahathir says the right thing we also whack her. We whack her because she is Dr Mahathir’s daughter. We hate Mahathir so we also hate Marina. Hence even if Marina says the right thing we whack her.

Five years or so ago, before the March 2008 general election, Dr Mahathir visited Kota Baru in Kelantan to give a talk. That night they threw him a dinner. Nik Aziz Nik Mat, the PAS Menteri Besar, told the media that if he were invited to the dinner he would attend.

But they did not invite him.

There was a panic and a mad scramble as their searched for an empty chair to turn the ten-seat table into an 11-seat table. And Nik Aziz sat beside Dr Mahathir. Nik Aziz is not only the Menteri Besar. He is also considered an ulama (religious scholar). And he demonstrated how a Muslim should conduct himself.

You must remember that Dr Mahathir detained Nik Aziz’s son, Nik Adli, under the Internal Security Act (ISA). And they detained him without trial for five years. Nik Aziz was very saddened by this and he said that he would never forgive those people responsible for this injustice. I personally met Nik Aziz and spoke to him about it.

Yes, Nik Aziz would never forgive those who detained his son. And the man who detained Nik Adli was Dr Mahathir. Yet Nik Aziz insisted that he accord Dr Mahathir the respect due to an ex-Prime Minister of Malaysia. Nik Aziz wanted to show respect to a man who he said he could never forgive for detaining his son.

Is Nik Aziz a hypocrite? Is Nik Aziz not walking the talk? Why does Nik Aziz want to show respect to a man he said he could never forgive, the man who detained his son? Nik Aziz was not invited to the dinner. The dinner was in honour of Dr Mahathir. Why bother to attend, especially since he was not invited?

We Malaysians still have a long way to go to reach political maturity. Our politics is the politics of hate. And that is why many could not understand why I supported Anwar Ibrahim back in 1998 when they arrested him and threw him in jail.

“You don’t like Anwar,” said Anwar’s classmate, Haji Hamid. “You are very critical of Anwar. You would be the last person we would expect to be running the Free Anwar Campaign.” The Special Branch that detained me in April 2001 said the same thing. “Why are you supporting the man you are critical of?” they asked me.

All these people just do not understand. I may be critical of Anwar. But I am even more opposed to what they did to Anwar back in 1998. I felt that what they did to him was wrong. Hence I wanted to campaign for his release because I regard his incarceration as an injustice. The fact that I disagree with Anwar on many things does not make his incarceration acceptable. And the fact that I disagree with Anwar on many things does not stop me from playing an active role in seeking his release.