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Articles, Opinions & Views: Mahathir's sad ending by Andrew Sia

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No Atheists
In A Foxhole

Rudyard Kipling

" ā€œWhen you're left wounded on
Afganistan's plains and

the women come out to cut up what remains,
Just roll to your rifle

and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldierā€
General Douglas MacArthur

" ā€œWe are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.ā€

ā€œIt is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.ā€
ā€œOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.
ā€œThe soldier, above all other people, prays for peace,
for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.ā€
ā€œMay God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .ā€
ā€œThe object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.

ā€œNobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
ā€œIt is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died.
Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."

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Mahathir's sad ending by Andrew Sia
Monday, March 14, 2022

Mahathirudan

Malaysiakini : COMMENT | What a pathetic end to Dr Mahathir Mohamedā€™s political influence, as his party Pejuang is wiped out in the Johor state elections.

It wasnā€™t even a face-saving fight, as all its 42 candidates lost their deposits.

In fact, most of them were far below the threshold (12.5 percent of the vote) to keep their deposits. Even their best performer, Zam Zam Hashim, won only 4.8 percent of the votes in the Kukup seat.

For someone who once aspired to lead Malaysia as a successful Asian Tiger, someone respected globally for speaking out against powerful countries, itā€™s a sad finale indeed. For a 96-year-old man who probably does not have many years left in this world, itā€™s a mournful conclusion with little chance of any more ā€œcomebacksā€.

Despite all the wrongs in his first 22 years as prime minister, he was given a second chance. Yes, many warned against ā€œthe sly old foxā€ joining Pakatan Harapan, but he was a necessary antidote to a dire situation. This was because Umno had craftily managed to entice PAS away from the old Pakatan Rakyat, allegedly with non-heavenly rewards of some RM90 million.

(Just RM90 million? Shouldnā€™t that be RM90 billion? Surely, a major political party canā€™t sell out their principles so cheaply?)

Pakatan Harapan leaders having a press conference after the blocā€™s victory in GE14

Ecstatic victory turns sour 

Love him or hate him, he did help break through some psychological barriers, especially among Malay voters. For example, while Harapan formerly had problems campaigning in Felda areas, Mahathir attracted thousands to huge rallies there. And when Election Commission officers cut out his image from campaign billboards, it backfired big time.

So when Harapan, with Mahathirā€™s help, defeated the all-powerful BN in 2018, the old man was treated as a national hero, almost like a superhuman who could walk on water. Anybody who criticised him was slammed as if they had committed blasphemy.

Only Rafizi Ramli was brave enough to ā€œtegurā€ or check Mahathir early on by pointing out that the senior cabinet appointments were made without PKRā€™s agreement, even though it was the party with the most seats. He was scolded by the public and not supported by most PKR colleagues. Only MP Wong Chen spoke up to defend Rafizi.

So, I donā€™t blame him for being reluctant to stick his neck out again and get back into politics now.

I remember posting on social media in support of Rafizi then, but most people criticised me, asking me not to be a ā€œwet blanketā€ and ā€œbickerā€ over ministerial appointments. Ah, if only they could foresee Mahathirā€™s plans to break apart PKR by cultivating Azmin Aliā€™s faction so that he could deny fulfilling his promise to hand over power to Anwar Ibrahim. That split was the key weakness in Harapan that led to the great Sheraton Move betrayal.

Muhyiddin Yassin and Azmin Ali seen leaving the Sheraton Hotel before Bersatu pulled out of the Harapan government

If only Mahathir, in the last few years of his life, had the decency to keep his word on the handover of power. If only he had the vision to look at the countryā€™s long term future and not return to his old nasty habits of petty political manoeuvres. If only he was sincere to push through widespread reforms, instead of being an obstacle.

Then, after two years or so, he could have retired in glory as an elder statesperson, basking in the rakyatā€™s grateful adulation as The Man who Saved Malaysia.

Karma bites back

But he didnā€™t. When the Sheraton Move began, he tried to play more political games (remember the ā€œunity governmentā€ nonsense?). But eventually, even he was outsmarted by Muhyiddin Yasin and his gang of conspirators. As the Malay proverb goes, ā€œas cleverly as a squirrel jumps, eventually it falls to the ground tooā€.

I am extremely tempted to say that this is karma coming back to bite. As Iā€™ve written previously, many of his old sins have boomeranged onto him. For example, he could not legally appeal the decision by Bersatu to kick him out of the party (even though he was the founder) because he himself had amended the law to prevent such appeals!

And while he now moans about kleptocrats like Najib Abdul Razak, he needs to reflect on how he himself made money politics a staple when he was PM the first time around. Similarly, while Muhyiddin thought he was very clever with his Sheraton Move, he finds that Umno has now turned around to betray him and destroy Bersatu.

So beware of the payback of karma! 

Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad campaigning in the Johor state election

However, I at least have to credit Mahathir and Pejuang for not joining most of their former Bersatu colleagues to betray the votersā€™ mandate given to Harapan in the 2018 general elections.

Salvaging the mess

Even after ā€œthe rice had become porridgeā€, to cite another Malay proverb, Mahathir could still have salvaged something from the mess. Yes, Pejuang was a pale shadow of Bersatu but it could have still worked with Harapan.

After all, on Jan 24, Anwar had said that all opposition parties ā€“ including Pejuang, Warisan and Muda ā€“ should cooperate under a ā€œbig tentā€ for the Johor election.

Pejuang could have accepted this offer, like Muda did, and negotiated a few seats to contest. Surely, the party would have performed much better with Harapanā€™s support.

Yet Pejuang rejected the olive branch, declaring arrogantly that it was ā€œthe only true opposition partyā€. Talk about an overinflated ego. Clearly, the old man was unwilling to accept scraps from Harapan, led by Anwar.

But Mahathir now has to endure the humiliation of seeing his party smashed, and the pain of watching the country gradually fall back into the grasp of what he calls ā€œkleptocratsā€. Before this, he could have still negotiated for maybe four or five seats with Harapan. Now, he has much less bargaining power, if any.

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak (centre) celebrating BNā€™s landslide win in the Johor state election

Pejuang now tries to save face by arguing that they lost because voters were not familiar with their logo. But why did Muda do much better with a new logo? And come on, Pejuangā€™s best logo is the old manā€™s face, not some strange logo that looks like a bear ā€“ or a toilet bowl.

Despite Mahathirā€™s various letters and campaign speeches to the Johor voters, he was ignored, regarded as an irrelevant piece of history, as BN (and the alleged kleptos) romped to a huge victory. 

ā€œThis means that Mahathir has lost his influence among Malay voters,ā€ concludes James Chin of the University of Tasmaniaā€™s Asia Institute.

Letā€™s not even discuss the non-Malays who now despise him. When a leader who has spent his life championing and leading the Malays, only for them to turn a deaf ear to him as he nears the end of his life ā€“ well, itā€™s a bitter pill for the doctor to swallow.

Mahathir could have been a true statesperson who really made Malaysia great. But again and again, he chose the path of political games for short-term gains. And now, he himself can taste the sour fruits of his actions as we slide downwards as a nation.

So perhaps his sorrowful end is indeed well deserved.

posted by Major D Swami (Retired) @ 11:26 AM  
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