I would disagree with that assessment. I think Badawi should only receive 20% of the credit in 2004 and 20% of the blame this time. In both occasions, 80% of the creditor/blame goes to Mahathir. Why do I say that?
Ask yourself. What is the main cause of BN’s poor performance? The newspapers have gone into great detail on that. In a nutshell, the people are fed up with the BN’s mismanagement and wanted change. And this desire for change was already very strong in 2004. Hence they were hopeful that Badawi, being quite different in character and temperament from Dr M would bring about that change. Unfortunately they were disappointed. And so now, they are willing to give the opposition a try.
Let’s take a closer look at just a couple of these causes of discontent among Malaysians.
1) Corruption, nepotism and money politics. Did these come about only during the past four years under Badawi’s leadership? Obviously not. They flourished during the Mahathir era. Remember that famous Lingam video? Who was PM at that time? Badawi’s failure was only his inability to deliver on his promises to solve these deep-rooted problems. So I ask you - can Badawi take 100% of the ‘credit’?
2) Marginalization of the Chinese and Indians arising from the NEP (New Economic Policies) which led to exodus of large numbers of talented Chinese and Indians. Again did this arise during Badawi’s term?
3) Crime and social problems. Remember the time when Lee Kuan Yew caused an uproar in the Malaysian papers when he commented that Johor Bahru was crime-infested? Was that during Badawi’s or Mahathir’s rule?
4) Finally, there is the so-called Anwar factor. This one is fact is 100% caused by Mahathir’s petty feud with his apparent successor. Badawi was simply the innocent bystander. His only fault is that he was not as ruthless as his predecessor in finishing off Anwar by dishonest means.
The above are just a few of the many problems that caused the ‘defeat’ of BN. All these problems were deeply entrenched when Badawi took over the reigns from Mahathir. As I said before, here:
冰冻三尺 非一日之寒; or A three –feet layer of ice did not result from a single day of chill.
Conclusion: Mahathir should not be so quick to point fingers at his successor. You know what they say about pointing fingers. One finger is pointed at Badawi, 4 are pointed at himself. That’s why I say Badawi is only 20% to blame.
As an aside, I think the opposition should thank Mahathir for their victories. Just imagine. If Dr M hadn’t so ruthlessly dealt with his previous deputy, would today’s results be possible. If Anwar had succeeded Dr M, he certainly would have continued the BN’s policies; only he wouldn’t be as easy to handle as Badawi. As it turns out, Anwar is now forced to work with the opposition parties and court the Chinese and Indian voters, and win over some disgruntled Malays.
A final word caution to my Chinese and Indian friends – watch Anwar carefully. There is a Cantonese saying; kor kew chou pan. After crossing the bridge, remove the plank.
4 comments:
American democracy with all its misgivings can strongly support a black man for president is aomething all Americans can be proud of. The potent brew comprising of racial discrimination, interference from religious zealots in government, uneven distribution of wealth, if not properly addressed, will certainly sink Malaysia. No point for these scheming politicians hiding at the upper-most deck of the 'titanic', there is only one direction to go and that is downwards.
You have the right assessment. Mahathir and his "Kawan" contributed to many of problems. Remember the crooked bridge that was supposed to link Johore and Singapore? Well it was Mahathir's baby and when he got wind that badawi cancelled that project, he was furious.
As for Anwar, well I believe he is smarter than Mahathir. He knows that if he cuts off ties with DAP and PAS, his dream to become the prime minister will vanished. The only fear is when he becomes the PM, will he re-start the old policies of Mahathir to further entrenched himself for a long period of time? Maybe by then Barisan Nasional would have purged itself of the Mahathir elements and a new political leadership could serve as an alternative to Anwar. I am looking at the post-Badawi era with leaders like Hishamuddin and Najib.
That's politics! Society and country evolves from this change and re-invention.
My hongkong friend who critizes that HK is now in serious trouble after becoming an SAR (special administrative region) of China for 50 years. I told her in fact HK people should be happy because they need not spend a single dollar for their external defence, all covered by the PLA of China -hence what is the complaint about? Look at Singapore. We are a small island without any natural resources, (needs to spend a bomb on our defence), that includes insufficient water, and being sarcastically called a tiny red dot by its larger neighour. All our nine neighbouring ASEAN countries have huge land mass and natural resources. Are the common folks of these countries, except Brunei, better off than us?
The kris waving MP is in the news again. He apologized to non-malays for his threatening moves but stoutly defended his kris wayang kulit as preserving Malay tradition. Anyone with common sense knows that the kris is already an icon recognised in the Malay world of culture and tradition and doesn't need any promotion by the MP who is merely trying to score political points for himself. All his empty talks are nothing but BS.
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