Din Merican always pays for my nasi kandar.

You gotta be jokin’!

Nothing is free in life. No such thing as a free nasi kandar. Someone is always paying for it. If it’s not you, then it’s somebody else.

You are truly a Malaysian at heart and you love your country just as much as I do. I think is high time for Malaysians like yourself and others to come back from abroad and make a sacrifice by joining in the local political arena and be that instrument of change for this poor ailing nation which we call HOME. No point just “bitching” about the current UMNO/BN regime when your’re out there in the States having a good time. This nation need new leaders, especially Malay leaders like yourself and many more living abroad to take Malaysia to greater heights! The next General Election is not that far off ……. I don’t mine seeing a YB Bakri Musa around my constituency, a highly educated, highly respected, intellectual man, voicing the woes of the nation, bringing those winds of change of peace, stability, unity and prosperity to my beloved Malaysia. What say you doc? Boleh tak?

Thanks, Malaysia is no future. Your observations are most appropriate given the current state of affair in Bolehland. Mahathir has a hand in almost every problem the country faces now. But his apologists and supporters are aplenty.

The rural Malay mass is right behind Umno come every election. So why should the party stalwarts worry. They just dish out “goodies” to please the pak ciks and mak ciks and the party’s continuity is assured.

Severing this lifeline is the only solution. But how are we to do it when the party controls the print and electronic media less for cyberspace, which it is trying hard to exert control as well.

But given time Umno, like other political parties the world over, will disintegrate under its own weight. And the time is well neigh near.

The English say a barking dog rarely bites…

I refer to Anon’s hard hitting comments on Tun Dr. Mahathir, who is a mentor and a role model to men and women of my generation.

I do not deny that I have a lot of admiration for his intellect, guts, vision and political skills. At the same time, I am not blind to his policy failures. Like the rest of us, he is not perfect.

In my opinion, however, Tun Dr. Mahathir did things that he thought was good for our country. He was a very active Prime Minister who set very high standards for himself. He was also an excellent crisis and time manager with great work ethics. In my eyes, he is a Malay sifu.

On the domestic front, Tun Dr. Mahathir successfully turned around the economy after the 1997-1998 East Asia by introducing selective capitals. His actions checked the slide of the Malaysian ringgit and stabilised the macroeconomy.

His decision to impose capital controls in September 1998 was controversial, but over time, he won praise from the IMF and the World Bank,monetary experts and academics for doing so. He got the economy going again and restored investor and public confidence so that by 1999/2000, the Malaysian economy rebounded strongly.

Malaysia would not be what it is today in terms of development, especially modern infrastructure, if he did not make bold decisions. He never wavered. Over 22 years, he transformed the Malaysian economy from a colonial agricultural backwater into a modern export driven one.

Tun Dr. Mahathir brought the internet and inter-connectivity into our homes, offices and cafes so that today we can do business efficiently and exchange views and ideas in real time.

His achievements in the area of foreign policy and international relations, especially in promoting South-South cooperation and ASEAN, and projecting our image abroad would be difficult to emulate. On the world stage, he stood firmly in support of our national interest and those of the Third World countries. He was particularly critical of the unilateralist policies of the Neo-Con led Bush Administration. In evaluating him, it is easy for us to overlook the role he played on the international stage.

Tun Dr. Mahathir set a clear agenda (Vision 2020) for a united and caring Malaysia, but he failed miserably to change the mindset of the Malays to embrace Islamic modernity. Regretably, he allowed his Deputy Anwar Ibrahim a free hand to outwit PAS in the Islamisation game.

Anwar was at that time an admirer of Ayatollah Khomeini’s 1979 Iran Revolution and had dreams of making Malaysia the new “Andalusia” of the Islamic World (See Ziauddin Sardar’s “In Search of Paradise”). This turned out to be a serious error of judgement, which he was to repeat with his choice of Badawi to succeed him in 2003. But no one dared to challenge him on both occasions. A few might have done so, but they might have been ridiculed or marginalized.

He was tough on his detractors and those who sought to disrupt public order. His human rights record was not good and that led him to be labeled an authoritarian leader or “dictator” by some. Did he grow arrogant? Yes, in some ways since he must have succumbed to persistent bodekism of his people.

Why should we impeach Tun Dr. Mahathir? On what grounds? He always sought parliamentary approval and those of his Cabinet colleagues for his proposals. We, as citizens and voters, too went along with him and kept him in office for 22 years. Most sought to curry his favour while others were indifferent, or did not dare to challenge his ideas. The minority who disagreed with him felt the heat of his high office. That is politics.

Those who wish to understand his politics and socio-economic programmes should read Khoo Boo Teik’s ” The Paradoxes of Mahathirism” (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1995). Dr. Khoo made a fairly balanced assessment of the Tun.

As for Tun Dr. Mahathir and upon looking back, this much I can say: “He did what he had to do, he saw them through without exception and he did them his way”. For that, I thank him for his hard work, dedication and for his convictions.

Let us not be diverted from the present. Prime Minister Badawi is in the 4th year of his administration. So far we have nothing but talk only. He has yet to show me at least what he can do. I am waiting for the day when I can say “Thank You” to Prime Minister Badawi for doing what he had to do.

For the time being, I have yet to be convinced if he is up to the job. I will rejoice if he proves that I am wrong for taking very skeptical view of his administration.