Mahathir's Vision 2020 failed to materialise and ironically, despite his mixed ancestry, Mahathir (above, right) prefers to champion only the Malay race.
Hadi (above, left) declared in his "Amanat Haji Hadi"
that Muslims should go against the constitution of the colonials and
that by separating politics from religion, Muslims will become infidels.
Hadiās teachings are dangerous. He labels bribes as donations.
Ironically, his ramblings have confused many Malays because some cannot
decide if they are Arab or Malay. Many Malays fear integration.
Strange bedfellows
The two make strange bedfellows, given they are sworn enemies with a relationship that has spanned over four decades.
In the late 1970s, PASā domination was on the rise, especially in Mahathirās home state of Kedah.
Divisional
Umno heads who felt threatened by PAS warned Mahathir about their
rising threat and that Umno would lose the coming general election if
PASā influence continued.
Older Malays may recall how Friday
prayers had to accommodate two sermons, one for PAS supporters and a
second one for Umno. What Malay unity?
Last month, Hadi warned that Malaysia could be controlled by non-Muslims if Malays had low political awareness. He claimed that Mahathir was also worried about the GE15 results.
Hadi
claimed that Perikatan Nasional (PN) won because of the Malay/Muslim
vote, whereas Harapan was boosted by the non-Muslim vote.
These two men will never admit that their divisive policies and their use of race and religion have failed.
Mahathir
was the prime minister for 22 years. He had the state apparatus behind
him. Despite four decades of affirmative action policies, the Malays
have not progressed in leaps and bounds as projected and they remain
economically backward.
Instead, they have become more entitled.
They have forgotten their culture and abandoned many Malay rituals
because religious men say these age-old traditions are heathen.
Malays
had all the advantages that other races could only dream of but the
only people who gained were Mahathirās Malay and non-Malay cronies and
his favourites.
Some Malay politicians are so wealthy that we only find out about their wealth from exposƩs like the Panama and Pandora Papers leaks, or when one of them dies and their relatives openly squabble about the billions of ringgits that they left behind.
How did one former ambassador amass billions of ringgits on an ambassadorial salary?
Many
Umno-Baruās politicians refuse to list their assets claiming that they
were successful businesspersons before they were politicians and feared
being kidnapped. Business acumen or political bribery?
Older
Malaysians will also recall the days of the Ali Baba business model.
Projects cost more because the taxpayer had to pay several layers of
sub-contractors and reward the politician and civil servants whose
decision-making was crucial.
Today, the Jana Wibawa
scheme has replaced the former Ali Baba business model. At least in the
past, non-Malay companies with expertise in particular fields would
complete the construction job; but as we saw last week, a non-Malay
furniture company was allegedly the company refurbishing roads in a
particular government project.
The
president of the Malaysian Malay Contractorsā Association (PKMM),
Mohamed Fadzill Hassan, had last month complained about projects being
awarded to companies that were friendly with certain political parties,
despite having no experience and expertise in the job.
If Hadi and Mahathir join forces, Malaysians must ask themselves if this is what they want. When will all the lies end?
Power corrupts
Many
good people, including Malays, have left the country for good. Families
split up and are now scattered around the globe because children were
denied opportunities and were forced to seek their fortune overseas.
Freedom of religion is only in name and Muslims must wear their faith on their sleeves.
Like
many Malay leaders, Hadi and Mahathirās addiction to power has changed
them. They are probably very nice people at home but when in the driving
seat of politics, they show a lack of remorse for the damage they have
done to Malaysia.
They avoid accountability for their actions and
they become hardened authoritarians when they hold power. They and their
families have become immensely wealthy but around them, peoplesā lives
are ruined by their policies.
The irony is that four decades
later, these two men - who were once sworn enemies - may team up and
wreak more havoc on Malaysia.
Only you can stop them.
