Farewells and Tributes
28 October 2003
This article is published in Malaysiakini on 29 October 2003 with the title 'Of tributes and the farewell to Dr. M'.
Despite my scepticism
towards Dr. Mahathir's policies throughout his 22 years as Prime Minister
of Malaysia, I believe that somehow, farewells and tributes should remain
the order of the day. It is an amazing feat by itself for a democratically
elected leader of a South East Asian nation to be in power for more than
two decades. The Prime Minister truly deserves a farewell befitting his
status as one of the longest serving Prime Ministers in the world.
However I would like
to reserve my tributes and dedicate these to the millions of Malaysians
who have patiently endured the constant barrage of failed policies, multi-billion
ringgit scandals, wasteful mega-projects and narcissistic politicians
who are perpetually in self-denial mode. Truly, it is the Malaysian public
who should be congratulated for their intrinsic tolerance and their instinctive
quest to live in harmony with each other.
In my opinion, the call
by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the nation
to show its gratitude towards Dr. Mahathir is totally unnecessary. On
the contrary, the Prime Minister and his government should thank the people
of Malaysia, for our continuous support and commitment towards living
together in relative harmony despite the diversity that exist amongst
us.
There are two reasons
why we should not heed the Deputy Prime Minister's request. First of all,
the success of the country does not depend solely on the Prime Minister.
It is the combined effort of thousands of civil servants and millions
of hard working Malaysians that make Malaysia work. Secondly, it is because
true gratitude emerges spontaneously from the individual's heart and it
does not need to be cajoled out from people.
Any child, who has been
showered with unconditional love and care by the parents, will eventually
be grateful to them to a certain degree. To compel Malaysians to exhibit
this gratitude to the outgoing Prime Minister would be like asking the
fictional hunchback Quasimodo to thank his parents for abandoning him
on the steps of Notre Dame.
Dr. Mahathir's recent
speech at the OIC meeting, accusing the Jews of ruling the world by proxy,
confirms our deepest fear, that he has been ruling our country for the
past 22 long years with more hatred and anger, rather than love and kindness.
Instead of trying to call for peaceful resolutions and consensus between
the Israelis and the Palestinians, he blatantly worsens the situation
by putting the blame on certain quarters and highlighting their differences
rather than similarities.
I suppose this concept
of segregation and hostility is brewed from our country's own political
structure in which political parties are based on race. The continuous
attention given to communal politics does not augur well for a multi racial
society seeking to create a single Malaysian identity. This is because,
each time the political parties have their general assemblies, their leaders
will call for unity amongst their own members and race. What is the meaning
of the word 'unity', if it does not seek to include all races?
There is no doubt that
Malaysia has attracted a lot of world wide attention since Dr. Mahathir
came into power in the early 1980's. But is Malaysia standing out from
the world map for the right reasons? Are we likened to the beauty contestant
in a pageant who projects her beauty and intelligence to gain points?
Or are we similar to the contestant who foul-mouth her rivals and praise
herself to gain five minutes of fame (or rather, infamy)?
The dynamic policies
and slogans introduced in the earlier part of Dr. Mahathir's rule, have
now been all but forgotten. We are now left haunted by symbols of excessive
spending such as half-vacant glittering skyscrapers, under-utilized airport
facilities and a multimedia super corridor that is so empty, you could
almost hear the bits and bytes charging away.
Government projects
that usually begin as comprehensive development plans later become large-scale
socio-economic experiments that end disastrously. Due to lack of supervision
and poor management, privatisation of national institutions such as Malaysian
Airlines has failed. Ironically, the Government bought back the shares
of the airline at a ridiculously higher price to bail out the company.
But the strangest thing, that I believe could only happen in Malaysia,
is at the end of the day, no one gets punished for their misdemeanour.
No one important, that is, except for tax paying Malaysians who contribute
a portion of their hard earned money to the treasury every year, only
to find that their money is wasted on measures to protect the honour and
interest of certain 'important people'.
Not to be left out,
our Cabinet Ministers are equally happy to create controversy all by themselves,
as if they are taking the cue from the Prime Minister. Thus we have a
Tourism Minister who equates the level of patriotism to the number of
flags we fly, a Unity Minister who discriminates against effeminate male
students in our local universities, an Education Minister who fumbles
up the allocation of university seats for students and a Health Minister
who sanctions traditional medication and encourages patients to take legal
action against their doctors.
Therefore I cannot comprehend
the need for the current frenzy to honour our Prime Minister with over
the top tributes and salutations. It is distressing enough to look at
the photo on the front page of The Star today (28 October 2003), showing
the Prime Minister and the Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr. Ng Yen Yen
crying outside the Finance Ministry upon hearing the song Pahlawan Ku
(My Warrior) being sung. If more tributes like these are made and more
tears are shed, these people are going to suffer from serious body fluid
electrolyte imbalance very soon.
Thus when October 31st.
2003 finally dawns upon us, all that we need to do is to join our hands
to wish Dr. Mahathir a big farewell. As for the tributes and show of gratitude,
please bestow them upon all the ordinary Malaysians who have worked hard
and have patiently endured this long running satirical stage show.
PELITA NEGARA
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