Thread by @FreeMsian

The Enigma of 8 decades. The Malaysian Maverick, Tun Mahathir Mohamed.

He is a teetotaler, not a womaniser, no scandal with men and the work never stopped for him.

The Man who was born to fight British elitism, Malay Upperclass Elitism and inequality in wealth between races in Malaysia ended up being a family of elite himself. #TheMalaysianMaverick

Everything Dr Mahathir did can be explained from the political expediency point of view. That included his resignation letter on 24 Feb 2020. He had hoped to come back as the PM of a Unity Government but he fell on his own sword for good. @lope1985 #TheMalaysianMaverick

Say what you want about this man @chedetofficial but he never walks away from meeting any hostile reporter. Here he is meeting Barry Wain.

Malaysia has always been corrupt but Dr Mahathir brought it the big way by getting UMNO involved in business and when it backfired, he had no regrets and simply moved on. His inner circle which indulged in corrupt acts were never punished.

What made Tun Mahathir the man he is now.. Everything is explained here. He thought Big and he wanted everything Big! Some made great impact to Malaysia. Many ended in disaster or too costly to the nation.

Strict father Mohamed, a studious yet stubborn son Dr Mahathir.

His constant push of the Malays to excel comes from his own experience.

When schools were shut during the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, Mahathir tried his hand in petty business. Today, we have school shutdown owing to Covid-19 but still can’t try petty business as we have to #StayHome #Malaysia

Opposing the Malayan Union because he couldn’t trust that the Malays could compete in open competition.

The Original Reason for the young Mahathir to enter politics: To uplift the historically subjugated Malays.

As a son of a civil servant, Dr Mahathir had known about the hardship faced by civil servants and how inflation erodes their purchasing power. Whether he now remembers or not is another story.

Lifelong quest to make the Malays as competitive as the Chinese. But the methods he had employed to achieve it ended disastrously in many instances, as we know by now.

Despite being a student living on lowly stipends, that didn’t stop @chedetofficial finding his own income to the extent he could buy his motorcycle to take Tun Siti Hasmah for a pillion ride along Singapore.

For the last 70 years, Dr Mahathir has been scolding the Malays, to improve themselves. Today’s generations may not understand his style.

From the age of 16, @netraKL has been different but unfortunately, people still question her for her father’s actions. And the interesting fact, Dr M caned his boys when they came short.

Dr Mahathir’s anointed son in politics, Najib Tun Abdul Razak, is getting the cane from the former because he committed the cardinal sin of stealing from public purse. The same sin for which @MukhrizMahathir would have been caned when he was young.

Dr Mahathir is always against Malays selling their land for quick profit. Unfortunately, he could not even stop his own father from selling his farmland. @amofficialmy

Dr M’s love affair with cars is very costly to Malaysia. Despite heavy government investment and private citizens’ investment in the form inflated purchase price to grow “National car,” the fact remains that Malaysia failed and is fully dependent on foreigners today.

And the tendency to think Mega is already in his name. Maha in Sanskrit means Mega in English. That’s why his projects were all tend to be Mega. Some succeeded but some massively failed.

As much as Dr Mahathir had a sense of seeking social justice for the bottom-rung Malays, he was not the exact socialist who wanted to break all the barriers and make society fairly equal. He did contribute to the prevailing VVIP culture in the country. VVIP cars, VVIP lifts etc

The difference between @TheTunku and @chedetofficial has a historic context. One was brought up with all the luxury. The other one was with strict discipline. One Royal, the other was a commoner.

Dr Mahathir is the only PM of Malaysia who didn’t play the leisurely game of golf and who had thought he could change the fate of the Malays to the better unlike @TheTunku who wanted to leave things as it is, according to this book.

A super-sensitive Dr Mahathir who resigned in Feb 2020 feeling slighted over his faction betraying him is not new. He has done that in 1959 when his idea of Lee Kuan Yew Style politics of having technocrats in politics got rejected. @anthraxxxx @amofficialmy

The demonising of DAP was started with demonising its predecessor PAP by The Malaysian Maverick himself. @Boeing747S8

Tun Mahathir’s possibly only truly loyal royal friend was Tunku Abdullah Tuanku Abdul Rahman from Negeri Sembilan

Trouble was building but @TheTunku was chilling ... until it got burst open on 13 May 1969 and @chedetofficial was right to predict it.

“Chinese and Indian Opposition supporters paraded through the streets of Kuala Lumpur in celebration, taunting and insulting the Malays. Fearful that they were losing their last refuge, political dominance, the Malays retaliated,” Barry Wain.

“The following day, the King proclaimed a State of Emergency, suspended Parliament and a National Operations Council took over, a serious setback for the fledgling democracy. It effectively marked the end of Tunku Abdul Rahman’s reign,” Barry Wain.

“The NOC under the Chairmanship of DPM Tun Abdul Razak governed the country by decree for the next 21 months.” #HistoryMalaysia

Dr Mahathir’s open letter to Tunku Abdul Rahman put an end to the later’s career as he captured the mood of the day. He wrote in the letter that “Tunku continued to play poker with your Chinese friends during emergency using police vehicles and escorts to find players.”

1971 : The Sedition Act that is threatening everyone today got strengthened to its current position and also gave birth to NEP.

Is there any wonder why Tun @chedetofficial felt strongly for @NajibRazak and choose him as his PM candidate in 2008? Without Najib’s father, Tun M would have remained as a physician or in a worst case scenario, would have been thrown inside Kamunting.

Dr Mahathir is a leftist. Who would have thought about it now with his Tory mindset when he was the PM for the first time and second time? But the telltale signs are always there when he hates West and love Russia and China more.

UMNO Factional fighting in 1960s and how Tun Razak promoted Dr Mahathir, Tun Ghafar Baba and Tengku Razaleigh over Tunku Abdul Rahman’s supporters.

Dr Mahathir himself got surprised when Tun Hussein Onn chose him despite his own favorite Ghazalie Shafie. It happened after much lobbying as Tun Hussein Onn looked to bypass party hierarchy to choose Ghazalie.

When they don’t like someone, accuse them as Communists is an old strategy to get the Malays worked up and @nursamad ‘s father was a victim in the 70s. @Boeing747S8

Who would have thought the current huge critic of @chedetofficial , Dr @syedhusinali didn’t fix up Tun M in 1970s despite being tortured to do so. If he had done, Dr M would have been finished and may not have become PM of Malaysia. @NoorAminAhmad @FiqhTabayyun

Dr Mahathir was that close to being arrested under ISA. @syedhusinali didn’t implicate him despite being pressured to do so while spending six years in jail. Three days before he became PM, his political secretary Siddiq Ghouse got arrested... @milosuam

It was strange that Dr M, who was in the camp of Tun Razak once upon a time attempted to seek the release of corruption convict Harun Idris who was in the camp of Tunku Abdul Rahman. But seeking to release someone who is already convicted is bad no matter what.

No matter what, Dr Mahathir was never afraid to take on hostile foreign powers. He suggested to take control of Amboyna Cay in Spartly Islands. Tun Hussein Onn hesitated and Vietnam took control a week later.

Tun M behind pushing out Tun Hussein Onn though he denied. He also arranged for pardon for the first convicted criminal from UMNO, Harun Idris.

To Dr Mahathir, the end justified the means though he specifically denied it. But then, it is Dr Mahathir, so you shouldn’t listen to what he says but rather what he does. @NajwanHalimi

Cabinet taking pay cut is one of his old trick. But it is almost always very symbolic because the savings don’t mean much in bigger scheme of things. The real savings is in an efficient and corruption-less Government, which is hard to come by for Malaysia.

Dr Mahathir was the oldest PM to be sworn-in for his first term. He beat his own record when he was sworn-in for the second term until he decided to threw it away in a reckless gamble.

Dr Mahathir’s MSC which is currently headed by @raishussin is also another failure. Malaysia has shown no IT prowess in anything. Most of the talents in IT sector are imported. Also, take note why Mahathir never admit to his mistakes, which itself is very flawed.

Dr Mahathir followed Tunku’s style of politics even though he didn’t like him personally and a democracy inherited from Britain became more illiberal almost to the extent it went on to become a single party rule.

Dr Mahathir not holding to his promise of keeping Tengku @razaleigh as his No. 2 after securing his No. 1 spot. This trend has repeated several times.

Another promise broken, this time with Musa Hitam.

Why UMNO politicians do not want to ditch approved permits (APs) to ensure the country makes money instead of private interests? Because that is how they find their political capital.

Dr M’s first GE as PM in 1982 had 50% fresh new candidates and that included @anwaribrahim

Despite winning massively in 1982, factionalism in UMNO grew, often with the tacit support of Dr M to Musa Hitam. Despite winning moderately in 2018 elections, factionalism grew in PKR, often with the tacit support of Dr M to Azmin Ali.

Musa Hitam was finally chopped in 1986 when he seemed too ambitious and didn’t buy in into Dr Mahathir’s thrust into heavy industries. Dr M never liked the 2-M Administration label unless the 2-M label referred to his own name, Mahathir Mohamed.

When Team A and Team B of UMNO fought in 1987, the full power of incumbency was used. That included police permits, IRB raids etc.

Team A won the contest narrowly but Dr M didn’t keep his promise of unity pledge he made in 1981. His opponents were purged. Subjugation of judiciary had begun.

As DAP became increasingly difficult with vocal @limkitsiang raising questions over financial scandal after financial scandal, racial tensions (most likely intentionally manufactured like the Khat issue) also raised and gave a perfect opportunity to invoke Ops Lalang.

Dr M’s reformist PM image cultivated after his release of ISA detainees in 1981 ended with that action. The people detained were not just mainly Opposition leaders but also included environmental activists and those like Chandra Muzaffar who called for calm from both sides.

The common trait in all these arrests were the fact that these people were all somewhat against the Government in some sort of issues. So unnecessary racial tension played up by both side of the political divide gave the perfect cover to quell people like @FiqhTabayyun of the 80s

Grim prison conditions for ISA detainees that included @KasthuriPatto ‘s father. It sent a terrifying message to society and that silenced liberal views among middle class Malaysians for more than a decade.

If today’s Government is attempting to bring emergency without parliament’s consent, this was enabled by an authoritarian Dr Mahathir in 1981 through a constitutional amendment that allowed the Executive to request for emergency before the actual occurrence of the event.

@limkitsiang has been exposing UMNO corruption since 1978 but he was saved by an independent judiciary then. Dr M strengthened the OSA in 1986 which gave perfect cover to avoid scrutiny over deals done in favour of cronies that included toll concessions. blog.limkitsiang.com/2017/08/17/arc…

It was Dr M who introduced jail terms for OSA, granted broader powers to police to curb public gatherings and imposed additional restrictions on press by amending Printing Presses and Publications Act. Societies Act was also amended to deregister societies deemed political.

The chapters on how Dr Mahathir destroyed judiciary, I will not share here as it involves some palace intrigues. I cannot say today’s generation is unfamiliar with such cooperation. What he did yesterday, he is facing today.

Dr Mahathir almost lost UMNO due to a masterstroke by his nemesis lawyer until today, Muhammed Shafee Abdullah. Then, the Judiciary was fiercely independent. @syahredzan @__earth @skumar176 #TheMalaysianMaverick

UMNO Saga ultimately destroyed independent judiciary under the flimsy reason of Agong got displeased with Chief Judge Salleh Abas’ alleged complaint over noisy renovation at his Palace. That excuse was just a ruse.

The judge Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Abdullah Aidid, who whistleblowed through an anonymous letter re judicial misconduct was vilified in Mainstream media including the @staronline and was forced to resign, but there was no prosecution because whatever he wrote was the true story.

It was under Mahathir the Parliament was reduced into mere rubber stamp. Not that it was any better previously. @FadzilahMamat

Perhaps that is also the reason he packed not so intelligent Azmin and Bersatu camp into his cabinet when he was the PM for the second time.

Mahathir’s divide and policy rule and tacit support to Anwar’s vision team which also included Muhyiddin and Najib.

However, Anwar’s strong showing in 1993 UMNO party polls invoked jealousy. Muhyiddin, despite coming out as the top vote scorer for VP polls, was only given a junior portfolio. Muhyiddin was very close to Anwar then. 5 years later, the great fallout with Anwar himself.

1993 UMNO Party Elections in which Anwar’s Vision Team took on Ghafar Baba also saw the largest amount of cash distributed as at that point in time. Estimated to be RM500 million to RM600 million. @eddydaud

Najib got the sinister idea to steal 1MDB money had its foundation with Dr Mahathir refusing to pay oil royalties to Terengganu when it was under PAS. If you remember, 1MDB started off as Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) to manage Terengganu oil royalties.

Not that it would have been any better had Dr Mahathir paid the oil royalties to a clueless PAS-run Terengganu Government. But at least, Najib may not have had such a huge idea to steal an unimaginable amount like he did eventually.

For once, Dr Mahathir kept his promise of surrendering power to a pliant Abdullah in 2003. So he thought, until he was jolted with @Khairykj

The guy you are now calling as Atuk or Dinosaur is the Bapa pemodenan Malaysia. His intention was good but execution is another thing altogether.

Where Tun M’s policies failed was because he prioritised cronies over creating a wholesome competitive platform for all to compete. Even if he had wanted Malays to be given tongkat to overcome their inherent disadvantages, he should have created healthy competition among them.

Dr Mahathir also failed to change the mindset of the Malays to the level he had expected. Successful and sustainable Malay entrepreneurs and professionals are far few compared to the rest. And we have cases like Macau scam and Imigresen scam (Skem Cepat kaya).

Dr Mahathir himself has admitted that he had failed. Rare occasions where he take the blame himself.

Contrary to what PAS supporters might think, Dr Mahathir is truly an Islamist and he believes the values of Islam can be used to be successful in not only next world but also this world. After all, Singapore scores highly on Islamicity index without them being Muslims.

Islam teaches hard work, equality in society, law and order, justice, moderation and abhorrence for corruption. If only Tun M had instilled all of it with no exception, may be we don’t need to think about dipping into our retirement savings in EPF now.

But a PAS version of Islam which only focuses on afterlife while being ignorant to the financial scandals or their own leaders’ personal scandals will be disastrous to Malaysia.

Dr Mahathir has berated Malaysians, especially the Malays not with the view to insult but to bring out the better in them. But his style of motivation is now out of sync with most Malaysians, especially the Malays.

British left Malaya richer than many of their other colonies but the Malays were left poor, which eventually culminated in May 13, 1969.

Mahathir became a Tory because he had read an economics book and also because his teacher had told him. But the tax he collected were full of loopholes his cronies exploited to the maximum, he collected so little tax and accumulated so much debt for the nation @1Obefiend

Power got centralised in the hands of PM which Najib deftly exploited to the maximum to pull many scandals like the 1MDB. Najib even called up the organizational structure of Petronas to defend the powers he crafted in 1MDB constitution.

As Malays lacked capital and expertise, GLCs were born, mainly under Permodalan Nasional Bhd. Even in 1984, GLCs collectively lost RM6.8 billion. @_Kheri_

In came Tun Daim and his love-hate relationship with Dr Mahathir. Daim is inherently a businessman but doubled as a nation-builder. Often he didn’t bother about the conflict between the two but it was expensive to the country when it faced scandal after scandal.

Daim’s UMBC bank deal where he swapped smaller stake in a smaller bank with the larger UMBC Bank for a larger stake. All done a week before he took charge as the country’s finance minister.

Buying cheaply and a year later, flipping to PNB for a handsome profit of at least RM27 million for Daim. This modus operandi got bigger and bigger in later days of UMNO rule and peaked during Najib Razak’s Government. Also, transparency was never there.

Dr Mahathir’s Look East Policy is another failure. The Japanese and the Koreans extracted a heavy toll on Malaysia but they never really taught any know-how. There is no shortcut to success unless the rakyat themselves willing to learn and equip themselves with knowledge.

Dr M emphasised so much on pride when it should have been on humility and remain focused on learning new skills. Proton never graduated in making their own cars other than assembling Japanese cars here and when they did try their own, it brought disaster in billions of losses.

Previously, the Japanese and Koreans milked us dry in construction projects. Now the Chinese Government’s turn and business ethics of China GLCs are the lowest as we saw in Najib Govt awarded infrastructure projects like the East Coast Rail Line project. @Boeing747S8

Tun Mahathir was not a coward or a blatant thief like Najib who needed China to cover up his thefts. He realised very early (1984) that the Japanese were taking him for a ride and scolded them. But the Japanese never changed their ways. No one will simply transfer their know-how.

Dr Mahathir is quite good at shifting the blame to others. If only he had stopped blaming others and had an introspective look at himself and his country, perhaps he could have been able to change his course. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Blame his “My way” philosophy.

Dr M’s biggest blunder is his National car project. The country incurred billions of losses not just from directly from Nation’s Treasury but also through high taxes and heavy transfer pricing where overseas car exporters overcharged.

Most of the time, the Japanese sold their outdated cars and repackaged it as Malaysian cars to satisfy the ego and pride of Malaysians. Today, that role is taken up by the Chinese. Did Dr M learn any lesson? Obviously no when he wanted his 3rd national car or later flying car.

Malaysia simply did not have the economics for a car industry but Dr M loved cars and believed that it could act as a catalyst for greater industrialisation. That didn’t happen. Malaysia still paying a heavy price for ignoring public transport and becoming a car consuming nation.

Dr M dissed economists but took his primary school teacher’s loose talk more seriously. At the time of reformasi, even Prof @ksjomo was aligned with Anwar. Jomo was dangled as the future finance minister but Keadilan lost in 1999 as the Chinese got scared of an Islamist Anwar.

Aborting family planning didn’t do good to the poor. Turnkey contract where the contractors came up with their own design, material, construction and even pricing instead of common practice of coming up with owner-devised specifications and inviting open tenders harmed taxpayers.

Turnkey contracts opened up the floodgates. But Najib did even worse with his PDP arrangements where the final price of infra projects were often left undetermined resulting in cost over run of more than 100% and it still won’t be called as cost overrun. @khalidkarim #BloatedMRTs

The beginning of billion dollar disastrous ventures, all with the help of heavy protectionism in which consumers paid a heavy price for substandard products. But everything is dismantled today as AFTA n other liberalisation measures kicked in. Today, there is no local car or bike

The Proton car project disaster. What started off as a Japanese car cloaked in Malaysian flag has now become a China Chinese engineered car. In between, billions of losses, direct and indirect.

There was no export market to begin with for Proton. The heavy price paid by Malaysians is explained here by Barry Wain.

Approved Permits (APs) conservatively putting RM1 billion to well connected cronies instead of Government. Singapore taxes cars heavily but all the taxes go directly to the Government.

Mitsubishi milked Malaysians dry while not transferring know-how and technology to Malaysians. When it could no longer milk us, it got itself out. Total subsidies paid by Malaysian taxpayers for national car project remain unknown but should be more than 10s of billions.

Today, Thailand, without much fanfare and cry for national pride, producing 2 million cars, out of which more than 50% are exported out of Thailand.

Here, @tengkurazaleigh says he tried to contain Tun M’s obsession for big spending but he couldn’t. Malaysia suffered deficit after deficit unlike Singapore which accumulated reserves after reserves without fail save some very tough odd years in which they had deficit.

There is nothing wrong with the reasons to privatise because of an inefficient work force but the manner in which it were carried out was called “piratisation” by @limkitsiang and we are still paying a heavy price for many of these misadventures including our damned water.

Mahathir, Anwar and Daim all created crony businessmen but they were of different character for different purpose. Barry Wain explains here.

Daim’s boys: All of them were flops except Wan Azmi who got hold of the water concessionaire business and also built his own business empire.

Contingent liabilities of Govt began to creep in during Tun M era when profits were privatised to cronies and business risks were passed to Govt under the cloak of OSA. Najib than ran wild with this when he accumulated more than RM300 billion in contingent debts. @khalidkarim

Here, @guanenglim explains how Najib buried RM300 billion worth of debts under contingent liabilitie. These debts were in the form of Govt guarantees, committed lease payments to cronies, guaranteed profits to cronies etc. straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/k…

Strict Bumiputra agenda in NEP had to be watered down to preserve economy and jobs.

Industrialisation from late 80s to 90s mainly due to Japanese, Koreans and Taiwanese moving their low cost operations down south.

The economic miracle boosted by hot money entering stock market in KL and other assets, boosting up asset prices and value of ringgit, got burst in 1997. Nation building with little substance was the cause, not George Soros.

1997 crisis: Ringgit collapsed from RM2.493 to RM4.595, Stock market collapsed from RM806 billion of market capitalisation to RM375 billion. Bailouts of crony businesses to the tune of RM60 billion by Mahathir. Panic strangling of economy by Anwar.

All of this didn’t happen to Singapore as they have been prudently building up trillions of reserves, whereas we have been indiscriminate in spending and suffering major leakages in procurement, rampant corruption etc. But Tun M blamed Soros and hardly no lessons were learnt.

The bailout included his son Mirzan Mahathir’s company, Konsortium Perkapalan Bhd and Daim-linked Renong Bhd as well.

Malaysia took too much risks and it got its dues, but Dr Mahathir blamed the currency trader George Soros who only did what was expected of him. A country should be prepared at all times rather crying conspiracy.

Trust issue between Anwar and Mahathir, just like today, 22 years ago, during a major (financial) crisis.

Dr Mahathir proved IMF Prescription of austerity drive was wrong. Did he really or Malaysia went to build another asset bubble? Judgment is still out there. @khalidkarim

By focusing on flaws in international system, M diverted attention from domestic flaws. Anwar became the sole person blamed for collective decisions, Dr M and Daim primarily responsible for nepotism and cronyism though Anwar too guilty of the same. Daim fell out with Dr M.

If rumours are correct, Daim also fell out of favour with Tun M towards the end of PH as a Government. Tun Daim’s call to preserve PH alliance fell on deaf ears.

Daim left the scene after the fallout with Dr M in 2001. All his cronies who mismanaged their companies were bailed out and the companies were renationalised.

While NEP addressed to a certain extent the income disparity between races, income disparity within respect races grew exponentially. Growth of the country was uneven with countryside being left out mostly.

The biggest achievement of NEP is in increasing the number of Malay graduates and professionals compared to where they were in early 1970s.

Dr. M’s privatisation drive is mostly a failure with most of the crony entrepreneurs falling and failing. By year 2000, the Government had majority ownership of seven of 10 largest listed companies in Bursa Malaysia.

In contrast, Singapore was more into corporatisation and they are hugely successful. Theirs is truly Singapore Inc. and private entrepreneurs had to work hard to earn their share of income.

While NEP benefited very rich Malays at the top and helped create a huge Malay middle class, regionally, Malaysia went behind its peers in GDP. Of course, I get it GDP is not everything but nation’s wealth-wise, it matters.

Bonus: Who knew this workaholic man had a hobby, which was productive too unlike other top politicians who idle their time away in slow golf? Carpentry.

Did Tun Mahathir learn any lesson from his failed privatisation to cronies? Obviously no when he attempted to return the “nationalized“ asset of PLUS Highway to a crony. Obviously, the PH Government of rule by consensus made sure his attempt failed.

https://twitter.com/NewsBFM/status/1164787146143649792?s=20

Najib trooper here got everything right in the trouble that brew in Pakatan Harapan.

https://twitter.com/ladydarshankaur/status/1157016690036596736?s=20

@Iqtodabal

Maju started currying favours as soon as Tun M became the PM.

https://twitter.com/Haziq_Escobar/status/996685577192796161?s=20

“Premier Mahathir also clarified that Maju was the only one to submit a proposal, and that the only one standing in the way of Maju and Abu Sahid was Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was opposed to the takeover.” theedgemarkets.com/article/cover-…

In fact, Bloomberg went as far as to suggest that PH Government fell apart because Tun M couldn’t get his way in in the Maju Holdings’ attempt to take over PLUS Highway.

https://twitter.com/fmtoday/status/1234385893693124609?s=20

Today, Azmin goes on to record to say that the grand coalition was Tun’s idea. Quite plausible except that UMNO didn’t want to leave anyone behind and Tun had cold feet. Still insisted on Unity Government minus Najib and Zahid. Tun M dug his own grave.

https://twitter.com/malaymail/status/1332901734063038464?s=20

This chapter is full of fire, illustrating the misadventures of Tun M Tun Daim combo. Reading with the benefit of hindsight, we can fully relate to the misadventures done by Najib as well as figure out why the country is in this great mess. (To be continued)

It was the era of Tun Mahathir, UMNO money politics took centre stage. UMNO changed from self-sacrificing peasants and school teachers to a party of self-serving corporate chietains and dealmakers. Tun M shed tears about it but never bothered to change it.

UMNO has been using slush funds, anonymous companies with exempt private company status and nominees to hide their wealth. This is the same practice that enabled Najib to steal billions directly from the borrowed money of 1MDB and park it offshore.

Today’s UMNO is light years away from the one founded in the early days. @TheTunku sold his 14 shophouses to provide funds to UMNO and it was also completely reliant on a very rich MCA.

Tun Razak paved the way for independence from MCA for political funding, Tun Ismail established good governance for managing political donations in a transparent way and @tengkurazaleigh invested prudently to grow the fund.

Independent free press in Malaysia began to die slowly after independence with Utusan Malaysia being captured first by the State in 1961, despite bitter protests from the staff.

Bian Chiang Bank (later known as Bank of Commerce and now known as CIMB) came under UMNO control when it ostensibly started as a help from @tengkurazaleigh to a friend who was drowning in gambling debt. #cronyism

UMNO then buried its vehicle Fleet Group Sdn Bhd from public view by claiming “exempt private company” status, which status is allowed under the Companies Act for owner managed companies. Fleet was owned by all UMNO members, but that’s how transparency was lost.

Daim Zainuddin, with a penchant for secrecy and distaste for convention, took over UMNO’s finances in 1982, a year after Tun M became the PM.

The beginning of Tun Daim as a millionaire began with his successful property development of 1 mile of Government allocated land, which later became Taman Maluri. Daim’s proteges who became billionaires themselves came from UDA’s Peremba. #InterestingFacts

Suppressing free press that carried out investigative journalism began early for Tun M, the same trait exhibited by @NajibRazak, when he went after The Edge, Sarawak Report and the Malaysian Insider.

Coincidentally, Najib’s 1MDB scandal was also exposed in a big way by the same @WSJ.

Dr M hated the system of UMNO assets being held through nominees because when the nominees die, their children claimed the shares to be theirs. But Dr M did nothing to change the system. It was perpetuated.

Tun Daim complained that @tengkurazaleigh had left more liabilities than assets in UMNO owned holding company Fleet Group but an independent study carried out by Edmund Terence Gomez said otherwise. Terence Gomez has been tracking UMNO Money politics for 40 years. @esshimself

Despite contrary claims by @chedetofficial and Tun Daim, Tun M inherited RM88.6 million worth of assets of UMNO and when he handed over the post to Pak Lah, he handed over assets worth RM1.4 billion. UMNO became extreme rich.

@tengkurazaleigh a prudent and transparent fund manager, with the help from Tun Dr Ismail, who was a stickler for ethics and honesty, brought to accountability UMNO’s slush funds started by Tun Razak. After Tun M and Tun Daim took control, it went back to square 1.

Under Tun Daim, UMNO’s underground holding company Fleet, threw caution out of the wind and undertook aggressive and risky investment.

When Fleet Group purchased assets from others, it tend to be overvalued (to benefit cronies), when its companies issue shares, it is undervalued (to benefit cronies). This is the trick so common to most tycoon-owned listed companies or GLC owned companies.

And Terence Gomez of Universiti Malaya has been keeping score of cronies’ influence in Corporate World for so many decades.

No segregation between personal, party and nation’s interest. For Tun Daim, the phrase “Conflict of interest“ didn’t seem to apply.

End result of all these: Fleet Group accounts being qualified by the auditors, millions of losses (then millions are almost as big as the billions of today) and current liabilities exceeding current asset by RM222 million.

The construction of PLUS Highway is a mega swindle. The Malaysian Highway Authority had already constructed 370 km of NSE at a cost of RM3.32 billion, toll free. Then Halim Saad got the project to do another 500km for a sum of RM3.5 billion, which eventually cost RM6 billion.

To make matters worse, the toll rates and every triennial increase of toll rates were covered up under the OSA. The sin of the past, we are paying toll in perpetuity. @khalidkarim

If this bloomberg report is true, Tun M had learnt no lesson from his misadventures and the PH Government fell because Tun M not able to get his way in doing the way he always does. The unity government would have allowed him to do that. thejakartapost.com/seasia/2020/03…

UMNO link to UEM was inadvertently exposed by @datosamyvellu Later, Tun M admitted that profits from UEM was channelled to pay for PWTC. @limkitsiang opposed the PLUS Highway concession to UEM but eventually rounded up under ISA and sent to jail for 2 years.

When Courts were independent, UMNO found it tough to do their scheming. PWTC faced foreclosure but they still controlled the Government and prevailed finally by muzzling the independent courts. #1988JudicialCrisis

UMNO can make or break companies, create money out of thin air when they award direct nego concessions, cost of PLUS Highway project can escalate from RM3.42 billion to RM7 billion and we the taxpayers and road users can’t do shit.

UMNO’s get rich quick scheme. @tengkurazaleigh the last man standing for honesty.

At one point, UMNO owned RM4 billion worth of assets through proxies, a practice Tun M didn’t like initially when he became the PM as when the proxies die, their children tend to claim the assets as theirs.

UMNO’s control of assets transferred to individual hands. UMNO Cooperative Koperasi Usaha Bersatu became a corporate later.

1987 fight between @chedetofficial (Team A) and @tengkurazaleigh (Team B) saw UMNO assets being transferred to Official Assignee. Post-crisis, UMNO assets went to the same cronies at cheaper price. Many became billionaires.

@chedetofficial @tengkurazaleigh Power play between Tun Daim‘s boys and DS @anwaribrahim Halim Saad also went up to bailing out Philippine steel company for USD800 million on behalf of Dr. M, no questions asked. Stake acquired from mystery parties.

@jequalize wrote a piece about this bailout by UMNO Crony Halim Saad then.
wsj.com/articles/SB856… Probably this is where @NajibRazak got his own idea of bailing out his cronies by paying billions. Eagle High Peter Sondakh comes to mind immediately.

Sometimes, as much as UMNO cronies try their best to hide their wealth away from public eyes, things happen and when it does, the entire weight of the Government machinery comes down to bury it. Halim Saad’s messy divorce was one such episode.

The @WSJ captured in graphic details the messy divorce affair of Halim Saad. The sleazy Corporate and Political scene where even the police get involved is clearly not @NajibRazak‘s invention. wsj.com/articles/SB838…

Barry Wain: “By 1995, the teachers and farmers who once dominated UMNO ranks had long given way to civil servants, technocrats and opportunists; almost 20% of UMNO’s 165 Divisional Chairmen were millionaire businessmen-cum-politicians.” #TheMalaysianMaverick

Biggest beneficiaries of Dr M‘s development projects were UMMO Politicians, with their Malay and Chinese associates. In a most notorious case, Dr M cabinet member Mokhtar Hashim murdered a rival eight days before 1982 GE. The inspector who solved the murder was @TSMusaHassan

The epic fight between @tengkurazaleigh and Musa Hitam in 1984 only saw money to the tune of RM20 million. That grew exponentially a decade later when @anwaribrahim ‘s Wawasan Team took on Ghafar Baba and Co. A sum of RM500 million to RM600 million was distributed to buy votes.

By then, UMNO had become rotten to the core. The nation is still paying a heavy price for their looting ways. The nation still struggle to move beyond UMNO money culture and the men who propagated it. @chedetofficial @anwaribrahim @NajibRazak @MuhyiddinYassin

Manipulation of stock market is not something new. Investigation against UMNO-linked market manipulators, unheard of.

Tun @chedetofficial decried UMNO money politics since as early as 1984. He wept in 1996 to not let bribery destroy the Malays. In 2001, he said filthy rich businessmen will not be allowed to contest UMNO elections. Yet, there was no concrete action from Tun M to eliminate them.

Malaysia did take some action against top cronies who were manipulating stock market then but those were all aligned to @anwaribrahim So only white collar criminals aligned with opposite political camp were prosecuted wsj.com/articles/SB933…

UMNO Government bail out of Renong which was drowning in RM25 billion debt. How taxpayers have actually subsidised the UMNO-owned PWTC.

After the 2001 fallout with Daim, the crony era of Halim Saad was over. How much Daim took off UMNO, if any, remains unproven. Even the Opposition leader @limkitsiang could not provide an account as probably there was no @rafiziramli or @tonypua then to crunch the numbers.

Malaysia’s scandals are mega billions. It would have bankrupted any other nation of Malaysia’s size but Malaysia because the proceeds from oil and gas exports have been plugging the gap left by mega scandals for decades.

People have been wondering why Malaysia has not become Norway despite having the same petro carbon reserves and similar low population. If you read this thread, then you won’t wonder anymore.

https://twitter.com/ShuckMyBhauls/status/1330355852138655747?s=20

Norway invested the proceeds from Hydro Carbons prudently in order for the proceeds to benefit their citizens for generations to come but Malaysia wasted money in vanity projects. One have trillions in reserves, another one has a trillion in debt.

https://twitter.com/AlawiyahYussof/status/1333170952394293248?s=20

Why Mega scandals continued until it ended up with the blatant robbery of 1MDB? Dr M never brought to book any criminals who perpetrated those scandals, until 1MDB.

Dr Mahathir psyche was ruined by his favorite song, “My way” and ends with “I have no regrets.” Dr. Mahathir’s enablers were his super majority UMNO BN MPs. Even in 1980s, Malaysia’s financial scandals reached endemic proportion, driven largely by Get-Rich-Quick mindset.

Malaysia‘s Tin Mining scandal began when a fast-talking Egyptian Jew David Zaidner got into the good books of Tun M. Later, at the end of the scandal, Tun M would go on to blame the Jews of Europe and US for his gambling failure.

It is very much like later day Najib who took on some fully Jewish organisation for his propaganda work but when the scandal got highlighted by WSJ, his supporters would go on and blame it as Jewish conspiracy. It is just a tried and tested distraction method to blame Jews.

Dr Mahathir’s quest for pride outdone him. In very rare instances he admits he got conned and the Maminco Tin trading is one of it.

The effort to cover up the tin trading scandal and to hide the losses involved the use of Government institutions and Bank Bumiputra.

Dr Mahathir’s Primary Industries Minister from Gerakan, Lim Keng Yaik tallied Maminco’s losses to RM660.5 million, a huge sum in those years.

Incompetent and flawed UMNO politicians easily got conned to the tune of billions. Get-rich-quick scheme without fundamentals will always lead to destruction. takemon.wordpress.com/2016/05/07/the…

The Malaysian Maverick acted to suppress the free press in response to WSJ’s coverage over tin trading scandal, pretty much similar to how Najib acted to suppress @jolleyma but two times worse. A blast from 1986. apnews.com/article/937032…

Bank Bumiputra, a piggy bank for UMNO Malays. Decades later, it was caught laundering money for Najib. Nothing changed really.

Reading the scandal of BMF again in the Malaysian Maverick book gives “Oh My God” moment. The scandal has too many similarities with 1MDB though BMF is not as blatant as 1MDB. Await for further analysis on the similarities.

Bank Bumiputra which was formed to boost up the economic status of the Malays would soon be raped by a Singapore Chinaman. The beginning was Politically appointed Malays to helm the Bank. Pretty much the beginning of 1MDB.

Petronas, set up with opaque constitution, answerable only to the Prime Minister, would soon be used to bail out Bank Bumiputra, again and again with no one watching. In fact, Najib modeled 1MDB constitution in the same way as Petronas, giving extraordinary powers to himself.

The biggest fraud of the 1980s in the world was Bank Bumiputra’s BMF Hong Kong Scandal. The biggest fraud of the 2000s is 1MDB. The victims in these two scandals were Malaysians. Why we are not bankrupt yet? Petronas has been taking the hit, directly and indirectly.

It is true Dr Mahathir didn’t create BMF scandal unlike Najib who masterminded 1MDB scandal, Dr Mahathir covered up the scandal. He called the perpetrators not as crooks but incompetent. Similarly, Najib called the 1MDB scandal as not criminal but more of governance issue.

1MDB gave loans to criminals from Saudi Arabia and most part of it was looted by Jho Low. BMF also gave loans to shady Chinamen from Singapore and Hong Kong. Both ended in disaster.

Bank Bumiputra was set up to help the Malays. But it went on to prop up Singapore Chinese. 1MDB was initially set up to help Terengganu (mostly Malays), but the biggest loot went to a Penang Chinese, who is an accomplice and alter ego of a Pekan Malay.

The Malay BMF executives were corrupted with money. Same thing happened in 1MDB.

The Najib’s cabinet was clueless on 1MDB. Same thing happened in BMF.

For RM1.1 million bribe, this Malay gave away USD40 million of Malaysian money. Huge money to give away in the 1980s.

Wider public perception is @tengkurazaleigh was behind the BMF scandal. The truth is, Bank Bumiputra was one of the agency which reported direct to PMD, similar to 1MDB which was bypassing MOF and was reporting direct to Najib.

Malaysia’s press was reluctant to cover the billion dollar BMF scandal. They did the same thing with 1MDB, save a few which got banned subsequently and when they were unbanned, stopped covering Najib’s scandal.

Dr Mahathir did not seriously attempt to prosecute the BMF criminals. Najib gave protection to criminals involved in 1MDB. Most of them fled only after Najib was defeated

BMF crooks used China Government owned back to cover up. Najib did the same thing for 1MDB.

Tun Mahathir played down the BMF scandal. Najib did the same with 1MDB.

Dr Mahathir tried to shift the blame to foreign investigators who were doing a favour to Malaysia. Najib did the same thing with 1MDB, blaming the foreign investigators.

Dr Mahathir appointed a committee of enquiry but gave them only limited powers. Dr Mahathir classified their report under OSA. Najib did the same thing with 1MDB audit report. In his 2nd term, Dr Mahathir continued to use OSA to hide CEP Report despite some CEP members opposing

Nobody involved in BMF scandal was prosecuted in Dr M’s Malaysia. Nobody involved in 1MDB scandal was prosecuted in Najib’s Malaysia. Only after Najib’s defeat, Najib is being prosecuted.

RM2.26 billion loss in 1980s is a huge sum and Dr Mahathir was seen unrepentant. Najib displayed the same emotions for 1MDB losses.

Dr Mahathir made spurious and duplicitous comparisons to play down the size of BMF scandal. Najib did the same, often quoting Dr M’s scandals to play down his 1MDB scandal.

Tun Hussein Onn warned Dr Mahathir’s administration to learn lessons from BMF scandal and not to play it down. But none were learnt and Bank Bumiputra was bailed out several times using Petronas and taxpayer’s money. Another reason why we are not Norway.

Finally, Bank Bumiputra’s woes were put down for good when it was merged with Commerce Asset Holdings Bhd to be known as Bank Sotong. It got good deal from Danaharta when it acquired NPL at face value. In total, Barry Wain estimates Bank Bumiputra gorged itself RM10 billion.

Dr Mahathir set the trend for white collar criminals to go free or treated lightly. A culture developed in Malaysia and Najib took full advantage of it.

A conservative estimate by Barry Wain said that Bank Bumiputra lost RM10 billion in various scandals and simpl business losses arising from their bad lending to politically aligned people and companies.

Barry Wain was no ordinary journalist. He was the Head of Asian Wall Street Journal and had full access to reports gathered by Dow Jones. If he were to live and work in present times, he would be the boss of @TomWrightAsia and @bradleyhope That’s no ordinary feat.

The most costly Dr M scandal was the Bank Negara’s gambling in money market. George Soros took on Bank of England and broke it. Without George Soros knowing, Malaysia lost up to RM30 billion when they betted for a strong pound.

Dr Mahathir said “Currency trading is unnecessary, unproductive and immoral,” after his own bank got indulged in currency trading and speculating and losing badly.

Nor Mohamed Yackop, the under-educated former banking clerk was crazy! He gambled our wealth away.

Najib got the idea to use BNM to bail out his 1MDB from Daim who got BNM involved in business.

Nor Mohamed Yackop conned the medical doctor with an impressive trading room, pretty much like how a young Jho Low conned Najib though Najib and Jho Low had a thieving motive. Dr M’s motive was DAMN PRIDE!

Dr M’s hypocrisy caught up with his BNM. Lost big in the gambling. BNM hid the losses of RM9.3 billion in 300 page annual report. It took foreign press to dig it out and BNM gave an irrational response to cover up their gambling act.

Local newspapers didn’t report on BNM scandal, Anwar Ibrahim admonished BNM to stop their speculative activities, Lim Kit Siang called for RCI, Dr M let the BNM gamblers go scot free.

By December 1993, BNM indulged in window dressing by selling ringgit and buying dollar and in this process, drive down value of ringgit from RM2.55 per $ to RM2.73 per $ and thus, artificially boosting its reserves in ringgit terms. Malaysians lost value in their ringgit savings.

Other window dressing act was to privatise MAS for RM8 when its market value was just RM3.60 to give a gain of RM1.79 billion to BNM to allow it to regain its reserves. Tajuddin Ramli went on to mismanage and run down MAS is a tragedy on its own.

In 2000, a heavily depleted MAS was sold back to Khazanah for RM8 per share when its market value of the share price was just around RM3.60. MAS went on to cause huge damage to Malaysian taxpayers and it is still bleeding.

@tengkurazaleigh ’s estimate was BNM had lost RM31 billion in forex gamble. In addition, Malaysian earners and savers also suffered as the value of their work had gotten lower with purchasing power parity going down steadily.

The next is Perwaja steel scam and debacle. To be continued another day.

“Perwaja is one of the most successful government-owned companies in the country, and it has made all of us proud,” Dr Mahathir declared in 1991 after visiting the Terengganu steel factory. It was premature and ignominiously incorrect.

”It was politically conceived, commercially questionable and poorly executed enterprise that predictably failed. Despite lavish funding and protection from competing imports in the form of both tariffs and quotas, it was never able to produce steel profitably,” Barry Wain.

‘Even after the government decided to swallow RM9.9 billion in accumulated losses and privatize Perwaja in 1996, it continued to flounder. An unknown portion of the RM15 billion or more that the company consumed was ripped off in various rackets and ruses.“

“Eric Chia, a former chief executive officer, was arrested only after Dr. Mahathir left the prime minister’s office, and he was eventually found not guilty of criminal breach of trust involving the relatively paltry sum of RM76.4 million.” BN Government’s show trial!

The project was undertaken in 1982 by a JV between state-owned Heavy Industries Corporation of Malaysia (HICOM), which took 70 per cent of the equity, and a big-name Japanese group led by Nippon Steel Corporation, which held the rest. As usual, Japanese conned us.

“Built first was a RM1 billion plant to smelt imported iron ore into hot briquetted iron.....” True businessmen and entrepreneurs build step by step. Those who subscribe to get rich quick scheme will always build mega from the beginning using other people’s (taxpayers’) money.

In 1987, Perwaja was taken out from HICOM and parked directly under MOF, a tactic Najib followed in 1MDB’s SRC. Nippon exited from the JV.

Dr. Mahathir said later that the people who were put in charge initially “had no idea of managing a steel mill at all….So I had to change them.“ Dr. Mahathir then turned to his crony, Eric Chia. Eric Chia too knew very little about steel. The bigger disaster started from then.

As the PM’s personal trouble shooter with the authority to do what was necessary to turn it around, he had too much latitude to the extent he told off a MOF representative on Perwaja’s board who asked Perwaja to tighten internal financial procedures. Mahathir’s Jho Low!

Eric Chia told the Perwaja Board member from MOF to get lost. He was reporting to Dr. Mahathir and had approval to do as he pleased.

Chia’s hustle and confidence seemed to work. He announced Perwaja’s first profit in the early 1990s, winning praise from Dr. Mahathir. Then everything fell apart. Actually, it was an illusion all along, discovered after Chia resigned abruptly in August 1995.

Anwar Ibrahim, the finance minister, told the Malaysian Parliament that Perwaja lost RM376.5 million in the year ended 31 March 1995. It swelled total losses since Perwaja was formed to RM2.49 billion, two and a half times the company’s paid-up capital and reserves.

Anwar ordered a com prehensive external audit of the company’s finances and management by accounting firm Price Waterhouse & Company.

A confidential report prepared by Perwaja’s new management team was even more stunning. It was submitted to Anwar at the end of 1995 and leaked to the press. Perwaja’s situation was perilous, requiring at least RM400 million in cash immediately to keep going.

It was seeking a moratorium on repayment of interest and principal on part of its RM5.7 billion in borrowings. “Perwaja’s strategy of over-gearing is suicidal. Perwaja is over-borrowed, over-geared and insolvent,” PW report said. Very much like 1MDB scenario save the theft.

It was the report’s findings of alleged mismanagement under that were the most explosive. It also listed instances of successful and attempted alleged misappropriation of funds, including a payment of 2.89 billion yen, over which Chia was eventually charged and cleared.

The plundering of Perwaja by subcontract cronies. These things are all pretty normal in Malaysia even today.

Among the cases mentioned by Anwar was the award of contracts valued at RM957 million to the Man Shoon Group and companies affiliated with businessmen Kok Mew Shoon and Ng Kim Lin. PW could not find documentation for RM103 million of the contracts.

Unstated was that Kok, who controlled Man Shoon, was a longtime associate of Eric Chia.

Another affiliate, Sinar Sdn. Bhd., did not do any business at all in 1991 and had paid-up capital of RM3. But by 1995, the company had annual revenue of more than RM80 million. Atrocious looting.

Despite losing multiple billion, Dr Mahathir had learnt no lesson by choosing tiny Maju Holdings as a JV partner for Perwaja while the Government assumed all the debts of Perwaja. The new venture too failed massively, albeit predictably.

Just like how Dr Mahathir learnt no lesson in his 2nd term as PM when he pushed to privatise PLUS for the second time, coincidentally also with Maju Holdings. Bloomberg even said that DAP blocking it made Dr M to go for unity Government of his choice, which he failed miserably.

Dr Mahathir was never sorry for most disasters he had caused and was equally dismissive of Perwaja’s losses. However, even by a conservative estimate, Perwaja disaster set back taxpayers by a monstrous RM15 billion.

Here is a story by @jequalize Leslie Lopez, One of the experienced journalist in (neighboring) town on Perwaja steel debacle. wsj.com/articles/SB960…

Another article from Asiaweek on Perwaja. cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiawe…

From 1990 to 1992, the company reported profits, but not real ones, according to a Perwaja executive. "They were actually extraordinary income derived from making insurance claims from the breakdown of machinery and prior-year adjustments to depreciation policies," he explains.

Pretty much like how 1MDB got cheap lands from the Government and revalued it to show billions of profits in the initial years audited by KPMG and Deloitte. Najib was a better student than the teacher Dr Mahathir.

You don't just write off the losses and sweep everything under the carpet," said @syedhusinali , president of the opposition Parti Rakyat Malaysia. "Where is the accountability? The money belongs to the taxpayers and they have the right to know."

"If this happened in South Korea, the government would go down with it," says a former high-ranking official. “Still, there has been no public uproar over the fiasco.“ Malaysians are immune and ignorant to all kind of scandal. They even call thief Najib as their boss.

”At the moment, we appear to be a very tolerant society," comments social activist Chandra Muzaffar in 1997. "There's no widespread moral indignation because the economy is doing well." Even today, Malaysians are numb towards their corrupt leaders.

“People have the attitude of 'Let's get on with the business of getting rich,' @syedhusinali in 1997. "So they don't bother to rock the boat." This is true even today. Get the highest BR1M, enough to be satisfied.

Brother shouldn’t wonder what went wrong anymore.

https://twitter.com/redrun_/status/1337029862989557761?s=20

Fired by Petrodollars, Dr Mahathir wanted everything big and bigger and some predictably went bust. Almost everything was overpriced save a few like Penang Bridge which was built for a cost of around RM800 million.

And Dr Mahathir was crazy about breaking records. Longest bridge in Asia (Penang bridge and this is absolutely necessary), highest dam (Bakun), tallest twin tower, tallest communication tower, tallest air traffic control tower and so on.

After the Malaysian government made it into Guinness World Records with the world’s highest flagpole, individual Malaysians went scrambling up Mount Everest, crossed the Antarctic and sailed the oceans in search of more records.

If they did not qualify for the real thing, they found recognition in the Malaysia Book of Records, a home-grown version that let them create their own categories of accomplishments. #Farcical #CrazyForRecognition

“Malaysia set the unofficial world record for setting records, many of them banal, bizarre or plain wacky. They included the largest gathering of old people at a circus, most number of heads shampooed in one day at a shopping mall and the highest backward climb up a staircase.”

“With the help of the Russian military, the Malaysians floated a Proton Wira down to the icy waste, prompting some of their countrymen to “mock the inanity” of seeking to have their national car become the first Asian auto to arrive in the Arctic by parachute.“

“Five Malaysian skydivers took aim at the South Pole in a trumpeted “Millennium Jump” at the turn of the century, only to miss their target by a thousand kilometres or so.” 😂😂

Detractors derided “Bolehland” and a local satirical troupe, Instant Café Theatre, staged a spoof “Bolehwood” awards ceremony. “Yes, we know that we do not have a very good human rights record. That is why we are trying to have all the other records…”. From an Instant Cafe play.

“I think very far ahead, not ten years, twenty years, [but] one hundred years”, Dr Mahathir once said. The 966 kilometre north-south highway system, which took 13 years to complete, cut travel time from one end of peninsular Malaysia to the other by two-thirds. #GoodThing

The project (PLUS Highway) became contentious when a company controlled by Dr. Mahathir’s UMNO was given a RM3.42 billion contract to complete the network, which was then privatized under a consortium led by the same company. #BadThing

When it came to the Penang bridge, Dr. M solidified his reputation by making it a reality. Less than a week after becoming PM, Dr. Mahathir disclosed that a “non Caucasian” company – South Korean, it transpired – had been chosen to do the bulk of the work costing RM740 million.

The bridge was completed within 3 years and DrM rode a Proton Saga in 1985 to signify its opening, driving up patriotism among all Malaysians. Probably the only project which was completed without cost overrun. Credit to Hyundai and a then idealistic DrM transportationhistory.org/2017/09/14/tod…

F1 racing track for RM270 million at taxpayers’ expense was constructed to put Malaysia on the world map. Petronas burnt billions in F1 sponsorship. Any tangible return from this? That damned money sucking and polluting sport is on the decline now. forbes.com/sites/csylt/20…

In this Forbes report, it says Petronas is the largest sponsor in F1 sports and it pays US$75m/year. If we multiply that figure by 20 years, they could have burnt a sum of around RM6 billion. The money that could have been spent on our education or health. forbes.com/sites/csylt/20…

The massive Bakun dam that Dr. Mahathir approved in Sarawak in 1993, after 14 years of studies and delays, incorporated nearly everything about his leadership that supporters admired and detractors despised.

To generate 2,400 megawatts of electricity, it was planned to block the upper reaches of the Rejang River deep in Sarawak’s interior to create a giant island-studded lake. About 80,000 hectares of tropical forest (larger than Singapore) were to be cleared.

To tame the Borneo jungle, Dr. Mahathir turned to Ting Pek Khiing, the tycoon who enjoyed close and cordial relations with the premier after establishing his credentials on Langkawi. Ting’s flagship company, Ekran Bhd., assumed the lead role in the RM15 billion privatized venture

Dr. Mahathir gave the nod to Ekran in early 1994 after Ting and Sarawak’s powerful then chief minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud, privately negotiated a deal in just a few weeks.

There was no competitive bid ding. Ekran, which lacked relevant experience, apparently did not even submit a proper proposal to the state government before it got the contract, and Ting produced his environmental impact study almost six months after the award.

Ekran and its partners clashed. Swiss-Swedish engineering powerhouse Asea Brown Boveri Ltd., chosen by the Malaysian govt to head the consortium to build the dam, objected to RM9 billion of contracts being given without tender to four companies controlled by Ting. #UglyCronyism

He sacked ABB. Two influential Malaysian minority shareholders in the operating company resisted Ekran’s demand for management fees of more than RM1 billion as the main promoter of the project. #Corruptionisnotjustbribe

As the economic crisis struck Malaysia, the government in September 1997 decided to suspend work on several big-ticket items, that included Bakun. Ting got huge compensation. @limkitsiang protested @anwaribrahim’s action. As usual, it fell on deaf ears limkitsiang.com/archive/1997/D…

Today, the Bakunis owned by Sarawak. Account on total cost overrun is unknown. The proposal to supply electricity to peninsular failed. Neighbouring Sabah has huge issues in supplying electricity but polluting foreign owned aluminum smelting factories get cheap electricity.

The project that escaped the freeze was Putrajaya, that took around RM20 billion to develop. The work avoided scrutiny because it was financed largely by the internal resources of Petronas and because details were deliberately withheld from the media.

The opposition PAS created a sensation in late 1998 by publishing a rare photo of the prime minister’s partially completed residence, Seri Perdana, on the front page of its newspaper. It labelled the sprawling complex “Mahathir’s mahligai”.

Hours before he was arrested in 98, Anwar fanned gossip abt lavish spending on the palatial abode. He told an international TV that Dr. M wanted “to live in a world of fantasy”, and that the house would cost taxpayers RM200 million, not RM17m as Parliament had been informed.

The final cost: RM201 million, exceeding Anwar’s shocking figure. Incredibly, Dr. Mahathir argued that he designed Seri Perdana so big specifically to accommodate Anwar, who has a large family.

The RM8 billion Multimedia Super Corridor was envisaged by Dr. M as an information nucleus not only for Malaysia but for the entire region. Dr. M recruited a high-profile panel, consisting of a who’s who among global information technology players, led by Microsoft’s Bill Gates.

MSC went nowhere and Cyberjaya recently hosted lot of scammers from China. Najib also brought big names to 1MDB as Advisor Emeritus but it was all an outright con job. Dr M went for big names without doing anything to strengthen the foundation. Both failed.

Dr Mahathir contributed much in greening the KL City. Dr. Mahathir caught sight of Kuala Lumpur, he thought it very bleak. “I said, ‘why don’t you plant trees?’ I kept on saying this but it never happened…until you have the authority (as PM) to say, ‘Plant!’”

The crowning glory was the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers, designed by the late Cesar Pelli. Pelli did not set out to collect the “world’s tallest” tag with the twin towers, until Dr. M casually raised it with him over tea in 1994. They became identified with Kuala Lumpur.

Though the money came from Petronas, Dr M and Tengku Razaleigh’s crony Ananda Krishnan was the one who built it and hugely benefited from this project. Read this report by @asiasentinel asiasentinel.com/p/how-to-be-a-…

He bought the land from Selangor Turf Club just in time prior to the construction of KLCC. theedgemarkets.com/article/cover-…

The price he paid for the 100 acre land (including premium to DBKL) only amounted to RM33 psf. Now it is going over RM3,000 psf. Billionaires are made like that.

The story also goes that the full construction cost of two towers were recovered by selling one tower to Petronas and the remaining one tower Ananda had kept it.

Anwar wrote this from prison about Dr Mahathir: “He has delusions of grandeur and cannot but associate his rule with mega projects and superlatives – the longest bridge, the tallest building, the grandest airport, the most awesome dam…”

Dr Mahathir’s biggest contribution to society is in safeguarding constitutional monarchy and he made sure during his time that it did not slide further into absolutism. Though this was reversed after he left the scene in 2003.

“Britain kept the façade of royal legitimacy to simulate Malay political sovereignty. In reality, the sultans were obliged to accept the advice of a British official stationed in each state in all matters except Malay custom and the Muslim religion,” Barry Wain.

“Although Malay nationalists were able to mobilize and form UMNO to block the Malayan Union, the rulers stood accused of selling out. They had signed treaties transferring sovereignty to the British crown, the demystification of the monarchy had begun.“

“Malay-language newspapers charged the rulers with betraying the Malays and committing treason. UMNO’s first leader, Onn Jaafar, coined the cry “Hidup Melayu”, long live the Malays, adapted from the familiar “Hidup Raja-raja Melayu”.

“The Federation of Malaya, negotiated with the British by a joint committee of UMNO and the rulers and formed in 1948 to replace the Malayan Union, recovered the thrones for the sultans.”

”The rulers had their collective role strengthened when the Parliament was restored in 1971, following its suspension in 1969. Controversially, the Constitution was amended to require Conference of Rulers’ consent in the passing of a number of important kinds of legislation”.

“The Constitution and the Sedition Act were amended to make it illegal to question special position of Malays, Malay language and Rulers, even in Parliament. Severe restrictions were imposed on freedom of speech and expression to limit public discussion of sensitive topics.”

”Reinforcing the rulers’ position by adding “reassurance to assurance”, as one analyst termed it, was part of a multi-pronged effort to make Malays feel more secure about their place in multi-ethnic Malaysia”.

“In 1963, Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman reminded the sultans of Perak and Selangor, who were at odds with their state governments, that they were symbols and must steer clear of politics“.

“The same year he also had to settle a fuss made by the Selangor sultan, who called a press conference to complain about conditions that the state government imposed on ten acres of land it granted him in Kuala Lumpur,” Barry Wain.

“As the New Economic Policy opened business opportunities for bumiputras, a similar “economic nexus in ruler-executive relations” spread to nearly every Malay state”.

“As the Father of Independence and a prince himself, Tunku Abdul Rahman was uniquely placed to offer gentle advice to erring sultans and their ever more numerous – and sometimes arrogant, wayward and avaricious – relatives. For the most part, though, the subject remained taboo”.

“Chandra Muzaffar, a prominent intellectual, made a cautious case in 1979 for critically examining the behaviour of rulers. He said some aspects of the institution could – and should – be discussed in public.”

“The alleged utilization of public funds for private purposes, the apparent extravagance in lifestyles, involvement in businesses, interference in strictly political matters, the inability to uphold high ethical standards and most of all, the absence of an image of excellence”.

“Dr M’s tenure as DPM coincided with a bout of “political activism” by the royalty, since 70s. The Sultan of Kelantan persuaded his crown prince son, to postpone dissolution of the state legislature, recommended by CM Mohamad Nasir after he lost a no-confidence vote.“

“The sultan was manoeuvring to keep Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) in power without having an election.”

“In the case of Pahang, Prime Minister Hussein Onn, who was committed to reducing corruption, imposed his choice of Abdul Rahim Bakar as chief minister on the protesting sultan.”

“Already feeling slighted, the sultan was doubly annoyed to find the able and honest Rahim made life difficult for those who had in the past been able to acquire timber concessions through high-level local patronage,” Barry Wain.

“After the sultan became king in 1979, his son, who was acting as regent in his absence, refused to sign money bills. Rahim finally quit in November 1981, by which time Dr. Mahathir had taken over as premier.”

“Other instances of royal recalcitrance also embarrassed and disturbed Dr. M. His government had to bail out one ruler who lost heavily at gaming tables abroad,” Barry Wain.

“The sultans of Perak and Johore, asserting themselves as head of religion in their states, clashed with the federal government over the date for the end of Ramadan,” The Malaysian Maverick.

“That Dr. Mahathir would respond forcefully to royal abuses was a matter of how and when, not if. He had never had much sympathy for the rulers. While writing as C.H.E. Det in his student days, Dr. Mahathir had warned them that too often they were on the wrong side of history.”

“In The Malay Dilemma in 1970, Dr. Mahathir insinuated that the rulers in earlier centuries were more concerned about feathering their own nests than helping the Malays obtain a fair deal from visiting Indian, Arab and Chinese traders.”

“In other historical references, Dr. M held the rulers partly responsible for the Malays being dispossessed and colonized for “400 years”.

Dr M once said: “There was always a monarch who was prepared to help a foreign power for personal gain”, noting that Singapore “came into being because one monarch” handed over “that part of the Johore empire”.

“According to an associate, Dr. Mahathir “had long nursed an ambition to settle this problem once and for all”, after watching each of his predecessors “put up with the antics” of the rulers.”

Dr. M’s pre-emptive strike, which was designed to do more than close constitutional loopholes before the installation of the next king, was titled the Constitution (Amendment) Act 1983.

Introduced on 1 August, it contained three sensitive measures. The crucial one declared that if the king did not give royal assent to a bill passed by Parliament within 15 days, it would become law anyway.

The Sultans desisted Dr M’s move even though Dr M had made earlier special arrangement to let the bills passed with Pahang Sultan who was the Agong then. The showdown by Council of Rulers:

Rebuffed by the Sultans, Dr M resorted to his Plan B, the court of Public Opinion. All of these he was doing when he was in his 2nd year as a PM. He took a great risk.

“In an embarrassing retreat, the government allowed the king to retain the formal right to declare an emergency, while the sultans’ obligations to assent to state legislation were left unchanged, though they undertook orally not to block bills without reasonable cause.”

This insistence by the Sultans have actually saved democracy today as we had found out recently when the current government sought emergency which was rejected by the YDP Agong and the Council of Rulers.

“Under the compromise, the king could no longer block legislation by refusing to sign it into law, though he would be able to delay it for at least two months. Once legislation was passed by Parliament, the king would have 30 days to sign it”.

“While Dr M gained a crucial legal point – depriving the king of the power to thwart the elected leadership by refusing to sign legislation – his victory was incomplete. Certainly it had not solved the problem of constitutional impropriety at state level, where it was acute”.

Meanwhile, Dr M found a way to work with the Southern Royalty.

But friction between royalties and Dr M-headed UMNO continued at states level.

Dr M and the royalties came head to head in the early 1990s again. This time it was not hush-hush anymore and the Press were given full latitude to do exposes from the beginning. His plan B of 1983 became Plan A in 1992.

The Constitution (Amendment) Act 1993, introduced on 18 January, removed judicial immunity from rulers in their private capacity, though they still would be protected in the exercise of their official functions. Lim Kit Siang was found to be a rebel without cause this time.

With Dr M’s ferocious attack with full support from the Press, the winner was very clear from the beginning. The Rulers capitulated this time. (Though the final laugh is with the rulers when Dr M’s gamble failed in February 2020)

“But while Dr.M had little time for the royalty where it represented a feudal order, he never seriously contemplated reforming the monarchy or eliminating it altogether. His basic requirement was that the monarchy should not obstruct him and his nation-building goals”, Barry Wain

“Dr. Mahathir’s failure to project a model institution worthy of emulation, as Chandra Muzaffar termed it, meant the problem would inevitably recur. And, indeed, some royal households began flexing their political muscles again”, Barry Wain.

“The erosion of the rulers’ stature and influence “diminished their constraining role in tempering the exercise of executive powers”. In a remade constitutional landscape, he had no need to contemplate a republic. He was the uncrowned king”, Barry Wain.

While Dr Mahathir did something better and showed he was a great politician, lack of holistic reforms only reflected on his lack of statesmanship.

Dr M’s thoughts on Islam as a way of life is very interesting. Barry Wain dedicated a whole chapter to it. We will probably see that in detail next week.

Unlike Ataturk who saw Islam as an impediment to progress, Dr M thought the fundamentals of Islam could help change the Malay Mindset towards progress. He could have been successful, if not for the hypocrisy in his rule that started to get big over time. #TheMalaysianMaverick

"The major beneficiary of Dr. Mahathir’s perceived ethical collapse was the opposition PAS, the direct ethnic rival of his UMNO." Anwar Ibrahim's sacking in 1998 gave a huge boost to PAS after the disillusioned Malays joined PAS in droves in 1999 GE.

"Contemptuously labelled Mahazalim Mahafiraun etc. Dr. M chose not to address the many sources of Malay discontent. Instead, he tried to recover Malay affection by further outbidding PAS on religion, offering some of the items on the fundamentalist agenda he had always opposed."

"Encouraged and emboldened, religious bureaucrats flexed their muscles and tried to impose a grim form of Islamic orthodoxy. The whole sorry saga culminated in a declaration by Dr. Mahathir in late 2001 that Malaysia was, in fact, already an Islamic state."

"After the 1969 election, which threatened Malay political supremacy and precipitated racial riots, UMNO sought to recoup political losses by polishing its Islamic credentials."

"As the worldwide tide of Islamic revivalism hit Msia in the 70s, govt offered other gestures to show its commitment to religion, introducing azan over state radio and TV, publishing Islamic literature and establishing an Islamic Research Centre and Islamic Missionary Foundation"

"Malay women took to covering their heads with various versions of the veil, some adding an ankle length, long-sleeved robe that left only the face and hands visible." Today's Neelofa veil is another level.

"The more devout were no longer willing to dine with non-Malay friends, or with lax fellow Malays for that matter. They insisted that their food be strictly halal, prepared in accordance with Islamic prescriptions." They didn't know then about Halal meat scandal due to corruption

"The “intellectual powerhouse” of the resurgence was the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement, known by its Malay acronym as ABIM, co-founded by Anwar Ibrahim in 1971 after he graduated with honours in Malay studies from the University of Malaya."

"A former student leader and fiery political orator, Anwar led non-partisan ABIM through a period of spectacular growth, finishing the decade with a membership of 35,000 in 86 branches." Anwar did better than Muda even without Twitter in getting membership. 😉

"ABIM argued that the Msian economy benefited only a small group of local and foreign capitalists and was in need of reform. ABIM also spearheaded complaints against Harun Idris, the chief minister of Selangor, which eventually led to his conviction on several corruption charges"

Sadly, nothing has changed in Malaysia compared to the 1970s. Corruption is even more grander, benefits still flow to a very few at the top, great wealth divide among its people.

"As a fresh graduate, Anwar declined an invitation to join UMNO as well as offers of plum jobs in order to continue addressing questions of Malay backwardness. He opened a school under ABIM’s auspices for Malay-medium drop outs from the govt education system,

collecting a monthly salary of RM350, as principal and board chairman, for the next 10 years. Arrested in Dec 1974 after backing mass student demonstrations in support of Malay peasants who were suffering acute economic hardship in Kedah, Anwar spent almost 2 years in prison."

A visit to Iran in 1979 sharpened Anwar’s radical image. Then, in Mar 1982, in the middle of a campaign against amendments to Societies Act, Anwar stunned the country by accepting Dr. M’s invitation to join UMNO and contest a parliamentary seat in a GE two weeks later.

"Dr. Mahathir had long held strong views on Islam, the practice of which he believed should be drastically reformed in Malaysia, and he saw in the charismatic and popular Anwar an agent of change."

"Islam of the Shafi’i school, introduced to Malaysia by Arab and Indian traders and scholars around the beginning of the fourteenth century, might be moderate and enlightened, but Dr. Mahathir identified it as a cause of Malay failure and a barrier to national development."

"DrM wrote that Malays’ value system/code of ethics, on which Islam was the single greatest influence, were “impediments to their progress”. He blamed “Malay-style” Islam for fatalistic tendencies, a disinclination to compete and a preference for spiritual over material pursuits"

"DrM argued there was no reason why the Islamic faith, “properly interpreted”, could not achieve spiritual well-being as well as material success for Malays." Dr M remain steadfast in this belief. But the shortcuts he took to achieve this made it unIslamic and ultimate failure!

Dr M: "Indeed, Muslims must be equipped with knowledge and other “tools and skills of the modern world” to uphold spiritual values, for “without wealth and efficiency, the Muslims will be oppressed and finally spiritual values too will be lost”. I am in 100% agreement with him.

"Nevertheless, he significantly underestimated the extent to which Malaysian Islam would be “Arabized” and come under Salafi influences from the Middle East."

"As a member of UMNO’s Supreme Council in the early 70s, Dr. M had tabled a paper warning of a growing Islamization among Malays, but party seniors dismissed his concern because he was not a religious expert." M detected the problem but failed to keep it under control in his rule

"Dr. Mahathir’s co-option of Anwar soon after becoming prime minister was a masterstroke, because it not only took much of the steam out of ABIM but also deprived PAS of a valuable ally."

"It also strengthened Dr. M’s “Islamic” image and enabled him to make a comprehensive response to the dakwah phenomenon. He competed directly with PAS, choosing consciously to fight Islam with more Islam, which had the predictable effect of intensifying Islamization in Malaysia."

"The government banned the import of non-halal beef, prohibited Muslims from entering the country’s only casino at Genting Highlands and introduced compulsory courses on Islamic civilization at universities."

"Under a slogan of “Inculcation of Islamic Values”, the govt promoted in the civil service such virtues as justice, honesty, dedication, diligence and self-discipline." Teachings didn't work when it was not followed by actions!

"Dr. M was withering about Muslims who opted for empty rituals and cosmetic appearances, valuing form over substance. He poured scorn on Malays who adopted an uncritical attachment to lifestyles rebuking those who claimed women with covered heads were more virtuous.." 👏👏👏

"As Patricia Martinez, a non-Muslim Malaysian expert in Islam, pointed out, Dr. M did not follow traditional Islamic scholarly practice of invoking sources from tafsir, the formal discipline of Qur’anic interpret ation."

"He and his administration, “even the regular columns by government institutions”, defined Islam largely through literal interpretations, the approach usually adopted by fundamentalists."

"But just as he had little use for theological interpretations of Islam, Dr. Mahathir conceded not an inch to the theologians and other intellectuals trained in Islam who objected to his pronouncements. Indeed, he willingly confronted the ulama." 👏👏👏

"He complained that while Muslims endlessly debated “the minutiae of our religion”, Islamic countries were unable to cope with change and were dominated by others. Anyway, he argued, all those options confused Malays without specialized knowledge of religion." Excellent points!

"Criticized by some ulama for venturing into their territory without the necessary academic credentials, Dr. Mahathir called them "arrogant and ignorant, even if they had yards of paper qualifications." 💯✅✅

“Religion should bring success to its people, but what is being constantly hammered home to Muslims is happiness in the here after,” Dr M said. “And these interpreters of religion are the cause of backwardness and ignorance in Muslim society.” 💯✅✅

"PAS presented itself as the only true Islamic political party in the country. Leaders resorted to takfir, “the ultimate polemic in Muslim politics”, by calling UMNO politicians not only infidels but apostates, persons who have abandoned their faith."

"A journalist who visited rural communities in Trengganu, Kelantan and Kedah found PAS propagating “an extremist ideology of hate”, which led to separate prayer services and burial grounds, boycotts of feasts and even family break-ups."

"In 1985, 18 people died, including four members of a police raiding party, as they attempted to arrest a PAS Islamic preacher named Ibrahim Libya, who had established a following in the remote village of Memali, Kedah."

"Tough action was also taken against the Al-Ma’unah cult, 15 of whose members attacked two army camps in Perak in 2000, seizing weapons and taking hostages, two of whom were later murdered."

"Even more suspect (to many Malays) was the crushing of the passive Darul Arqam in 1994, a full 26 years after it was founded by a charismatic religious teacher, Ashaari Muhammed."

"Representing a successful and independent-minded Muslim country that sparkled in contrast with most economically and intellectually stagnant Arab states, he was heard with respect, garnering immense prestige for Malaysia."

"DrM: "if historically Islam has rescued the world from the Dark Ages and set it on course for modern civilization, Muslim society currently faced an aimless future. While it is possible to see the hand of Islam’s foes at work, the fault lay primarily with Muslims themselves."💯

"In trying to match PAS, he made one concession after another, inflating and prolonging the Islamic resurgence and allowing it to move in dangerously illiberal directions, in ways that ultimately were completely at odds with the process of modernization and intellectual growth"❌

"In 1988, he amended the Constitution to raise the sharia courts to “co-equal” status with the civil law courts, which was to prove his “most fateful, yet ill-advised, innovation," Barry Wain.

"Dr. M’s high-wire act was never more obvious than in 1992, when the PAS-dominated Kelantan government proposed the adoption of hudud, UMNO voted in favour. Although legislated in the state in 1993, hudud could not be implemented without Parliament amending the Constitution."

So anxious was Dr. Mahathir to avoid handing PAS a political advantage that he shelved a Police plan to round up a group of Indonesian Islamic extremists headed by Abu Bakar Basyir to be handed over to Indonesia, @jequalize reported exclusively once.

"State Islamic departments reached beyond supervising mosques and Islamic schools, collecting zakat, the wealth tax, and certify ing those authorized to preach."

"The mufti, an official appointed by each state administration who usually sat as an ex officio member of the state Executive Council, emerged as a particularly powerful individual. As a jurist, he had the authority to issue a fatwa."

"Objecting to “the steady encroachment of a particularly rigid” form of Islam, @Farish_A_Noor, a Malay intellectual, complained that Muslims were forced to negotiate “a gamut of bureaucratic hurdles” to do the most basic things – like getting married."

"Farish and a number of like-minded liberal Muslims paid dearly for having the temerity to challenge Islamic clerics and scholars. Accused by the Malaysian Ulama Association of “insulting Islam”, they were verbally abused and threatened with rape and death."

"While the country had experienced remarkable develop ment, the educated Malays could also see that the gains were not being distributed in a fair and reasonable manner."

"Indeed, Dr. Mahathir’s objective of creating Malay millionaires by definition endorsed favouritism, if not cronyism, while financial scandals and massive corruption were endemic and seemingly tolerated." Major conflict with Islam.

"While the power and privilege of those in the upper echelons of a prosperous urban-industrial economy were reinforced, the poor and deprived struggled. In brief, the most basic principle of governance in Islam, social justice, was missing," Barry Wain. Astute Observation! 💯✅✅

"As Patricia Martinez put it, “It is Islam that defines Malay identity and Islam that proscribes perceptions of wrong doing. Islam deployed as “catalyst and legitimacy” for the objectives of the Dr M admin came home to roost as the “idiom and metaphor” for Malay disgruntlement"💯

"A contributing factor was the alternative example provided by PAS, which expanded its membership and branch network with a limited budget and sheer hard work."

"Attracting little publicity or praise in the mainstream press, the party built a grassroots organization with individual donations and mass support on the back of volunteers willing to contribute without monetary reward."

"In stark contrast with UMNO luminaries, PAS’s ulama leaders for the most part led exemplary lives, free of ostentation and the hint of corruption." NOT ANY MORE OF COURSE.

"Nik Aziz, the Kelantan PAS boss accused by the government of spreading religious fanaticism, set the tone. After being elected MB in 1990, he eschewed the grand official residence and continued to live in the humble wooden house in which he was born, 10km outside Kota Baru."

"For large numbers of Malay-Muslims, the dramatic sacking of Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, after a year of financial and economic turmoil, confirmed their judgment that the Mahathir administration was degenerate."

"Dismissed as DPM and finance minister and stripped of his UMNO deputy presidency and party membership on successive days, he was in the dock a few weeks later being prosecuted as a common criminal. It was all too sudden and shocking. Moreover, it was unbelievable."

"Even less acceptable in Malay culture was the way Anwar was shamed and humiliated. Arrested at his home by balaclava-clad, M-16 wielding police special forces who broke down an open door, he was held under the Internal Security Act for allegedly endangering public security."

"Bashed in custody by Malaysia’s police chief, he was left untreated for days and without access to a lawyer or his family."

"When he appeared in court with a black eye nearly closed, his face bruised and puffy, Dr. Mahathir suggested Anwar may have inflicted the wounds himself to gain sympathy."

"Anwar’s chances of getting a fair trial – he was initially charged with five counts of corruption and five of sodomy – receded as Dr. Mahathir repeatedly declared, in disregard of court warnings, that Anwar was a homosexual and an adulterer."

"As the Malay community split into two mutually antagonistic and irreconcilable camps, members left UMNO in droves for the only logical alternative, PAS, among them many young, middle-class professionals. PAS offices worked around the clock, signing up 15,000 new members a month"

"Smaller numbers joined the National Justice Party, a multi-ethnic grouping formed much later by Anwar’s wife. As if Anwar’s incarceration was not enough, the arrest of many of his supporters, sometimes in mosques, left the government’s Islamic image in tatters."

"To his many detractors, Dr. Mahathir was identified with everything un Islamic in Malaysia. Farish Noor, the academic-commentator, wrote that “whatever the man says – even if he claims that two plus two equals four – is now dismissed as the words of the great Mahazalim".

"The minimum standards of respect, which had remained intact through the most bitter political clashes in the past, collapsed. Dr. Mahathir was pelted with used paper drinking cups by Anwar supporters as he left the UMNO Supreme Council Meeting that sacked Anwar."

"Malaysia’s foremost novelist, Shahnon Ahmad, directed a political satire at the prime minister. It was simply titled Shit, and it became a best seller."

"The ruling National Front faced a coalition of major opposition parties that for the first time was pledged to a common reform platform. Four parties – PAS, the DAP, the National Justice Party and the small socialist People’s Party of Malaysia – formed the Alternative Front."

"They named Anwar, who at that time had been sentenced to six years imprisonment for corruption and faced further charges in a legally disputed trial, as their leader."

"Issues that figured prominently were cruelty to Anwar corruption, economic mismanagement, injustice and lack of transparency and accountability. Islam was also a factor, the PM having defined his deputy’s dismissal with the statement, “I am a better Muslim than Anwar is"

"Although the government retained a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, regarded as a necessary minimum, UMNO suffered the worst electoral setback since the first post-independence election in 1959. Its parliamentary representation collapsed from 94 seats to 72"

"Overall, more than half the Malay vote went to the opposition. PAS retained power in Kelantan and took control of Trengganu for the first time since 1959. Holding 27 of the 45 non-government seats in Parliament, PAS assumed the leadership of the opposition from DAP."

"Anecdotal evidence, supported by subsequent interviews, confirmed that UMNO was identified with gross abuse of power. For example, the majority of Muslims interviewed in Trengganu who voted for PAS said they cast their ballots in anger and frustration."

"They did not vote for PAS because they wanted to live in an Islamic state. Dr. Mahathir claimed otherwise. He insisted UMNO’s reversal was due to Anwar and allies spreading lies, Malay ingratitude and PAS’s bribery in promising a passage to heaven for its followers."

"Although popular sentiment clearly favoured good governance, PAS sometimes acted as if it had received an endorsement of its Islamic state agenda. After party leaders continued insisted on Islamic state if they obtained power at the federal level, DAP quit the alliance."

"Prodded by the Dr. Mahathir directed federal government, UMNO-ruled states began passing Islamic laws that were almost as harsh."

"Trengganu’s PAS government forced through unconstitutional legislation adopting hudud, but went further by providing for the execution of apostates."

"Any chance of persuading the public that PAS’s Islamic state would be moderate was lost when Fadzil Mohamad Noor, the party’s accommodative president, died in 2002 and was replaced by the conservative Abdul Hadi Awang."

“By describing himself as a fundamentalist, Dr. M was taking a jab at the West over its preference for “moderate” as opposed to “fundamentalist” Muslims in the “war on terror”, and displaying his unhappiness with the West’s negative portrayal of Islam generally."

"Most non-Muslim Msians ignored such rhetoric and rallied behind Dr M as the extent of the global terrorists threat became apparent and the government’s policy of detaining Islamic extremists appeared vindicated. But the Malays remained as divided as ever over Dr. M." Till today!

"As soon as he retired in October 2003, his successor did what was required to win an imminent election: Abdullah Badawi waged rhetorical war on corruption, cancelled huge infrastructure projects and acted as if Reformasi was his natural platform."

"PakLah produced a new formulation called Islam Hadhari, his own vehicle for showcasing Msia as a moderate Muslim country promoting economic development, progress and harmony. Abdullah’s victory, capturing 199 of 219 parliamentary seats, was achieved mainly at the expense of PAS"

"Yet neither Abdullah’s huge majority nor Islam Hadhari’s stress on universal values would arrest the advance of a strict Islamist ideology, which had built up momentum over a couple of decades and taken on a life of its own." Form over substance Won, Dr M and Malaysia defeated!

"Despite Abdullah’s enthusiasm for Islam Hadhari, one of whose ten principles is “protection of the rights of minority groups”, he showed little interest in defending religious freedom."

"Unlike Dr. Mahathir, who at least slapped down those extremists he considered a threat to his interests, Abdullah governed passively and let religious zealots mock his claim to be heading a moderate Muslim administration."

"Mainstream books were banned, among them three by British religious writer Karen Armstrong described by Chandra Muzaffar, a public intel lectual, as “intellectually illuminating and fair in their treatment of Islam”.

"When Islamic militants demonstrated against attempts to hold an inter-faith dialogue organized by “Article 11”, a coalition of 13 religious and human rights groups, Abdullah backed the extremists. He shut down “Article 11” in 2006 in the interests of peace on the streets."

"The extent of the morass bequeathed by Dr. Mahathir and aggravated by Abdullah, with Islam defining and dividing Malaysian politics, was clear by the firestorm ignited by DPM Najib’s comment on 17 July 2007. He said Malaysia was an Islamic state and had never been secular."

"After 50 years of independence that included 22 years of Dr. Mahathir trying to reinvent Islam and out-pray PAS, Malaysia’s record of religious and racial tolerance was under serious threat," Barry Wain.

Dr Mahathir's gambit with Pragmatic Islam ultimately failed to uplift the society due to the presence of counter forces like Anwar and PAS and Dr Mahathir's own shortcut taking and immoral corporate deals and poor governance.

Dr Mahathir’s foreign policy also didn’t achieve much success for the country though he earned a name for himself. Let’s see what happened behind all the hustle and bustle.

“Blunt and seemingly fearless, Dr. Mahathir targeted the international economic system, which he believed was rigged in favour of the industrial ized West that devised it, to the crippling disadvantage of poor countries.” But he lost. Eg Tin trading, Forex scandals.

“With Dr. M, it was essential to distinguish between rhetoric and reality. His anti-West diatribes, even when espousing principled positions, were grounded in domestic politics, aimed at enhancing his own nationalist standing.” He opposed US publicly but allowed US bases secretly

“While skewering First World hypocrisy, double standards and unprincipled inconsistency, Dr. M walked a fine line between being reasonable and ridiculous. The overriding characteristic that defined foreign policy under Dr. M was aptly described as “diplomatic adventurism”.”

“Although Dr. Mahathir had a hand in almost every aspect of government policy, the extent of his contribution was not always apparent. With foreign policy, however, there was no doubt. It was all his.” Dr M and his ego to show his face to the world.

“Dr. Mahathir personally instructed his ambassadors to be more assertive, and even belligerent and rude, in pushing Malaysia’s foreign policy goals.” This is positive thing except for the fact that the goals were often problematic.

Dr. Mahathir accused the Tunku of having an “apron-string complex” for signing up for the Five Power Defence Agreement with the West and Australia. But when he became PM, he treaded very carefully.

“Dr. Mahathir declared the Chinese not only a threat to Southeast Asia, but a greater danger than Vietnam.” Later, as China opened up, he promoted Malaysian FDI into China. This is most likely the only successful foreign venture for Malaysian GLCs and people like Robert Kuok.

“A scant three months after taking office, Dr. Mahathir snapped Malaysia out of its pro-West default position by instituting a Buy British Last policy.” This was because a perceived slight by the British who favoured Singapore more.

“Dr. Mahathir dropped the other shoe by unveiling the Look East policy, nominating Japan as the country from which Malaysia could learn and benefit most as it industrialized.” Came as a shock to establishment Malays who considered Britain as their Winter Home.

“Singapore, ever ready to seize a competitive edge (unlike the antagonistic politics of Dr M), launched a “Learn From Japan” campaign in 1978, and even some Americans were suggesting they should imitate selected Japanese production and managerial methods.”

“Dr. Mahathir believed not just Britain but the West itself was no longer worthy of automatic emulation. He theorized that the post World War II loss of colonies and the wealth that went with them deeply affected the Western psyche.”

“Their decline was reflected in a new generation “sporting shirts and jeans that are unseemly, torn, patched, dirty and old”, and young men with long hair and in worn slippers or bare foot. What disturbed Dr. M was that Malays were mindlessly aping these “bad” habits.”

“Dr. M let it be known that Buy British Last was the result of negative British attitudes towards Malaysia built up over a long period. One sore point was the start of a London-Singapore supersonic Concorde service on a temporary route through Malaysian air space in 1977.”

“The last straw was the London Stock Exchange’s revision of its takeover code shortly after a Malaysian state-owned corporation acquired venerable British plantation company Guthrie Corporation in a four-hour share-buying blitz in 1981, dubbed a “dawn raid” by critics.”

“It was especially galling to Dr. Mahathir that Guthrie management, the British government and some newspapers called the purchase back-door, or subtle, nationalization. He considered nationalization unethical, and any hint of it likely to deter investors.”

“Dr. Mahathir’s explanation for the depth of his resentment – he realized British weakness during the swift Japanese conquest of Malaya, and “I became very agitated” after the war when they tried to impose the Malayan Union.”

“Dr. M targeted a symbol that had long offended his nationalistic sensibilities: “Carcosa”. @TheTunku had presented the deeds to the mansion and surrounding acres to the British government in 1956.“ Dr M ultimately pressured the British to quit in exchange for land in Ampang.

“It was the tough-minded British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, herself a mold-breaking politician and outsider, who worked out how to repair relations with Malaysia.” @1Obefiend usually calls Tun M, the Tory. Mahathir liked Tory Margaret Thatcher.

“In hosting Dr. M in London 1983, she showed the deference that made the difference. Thatcher entertained Dr. M at No. 10 Downing Street by giving him VIP treatment. MAS was given more seats to London route. On return, Dr M ended BBL campaign.” (So is it all about London seats?)

“One basic adjustment in London was the acceptance that Britain in future would have to compete with the field for commercial contracts in Malaysia (unlike before), and perhaps sweeten major deals with government inducements.” Inducement meant to be bribery?

“Thatcher’s hand-crafted settlement was critical. It confirmed that the super sensitive Dr. Mahathir sought consideration, appreciation and homage from the West, particularly from the country that had lorded over Malaysia for more than a century.” They satisfied Dr M’s ego well.

“As it was, Thatcher found in Dr. Mahathir a kindred spirit, “almost a man to envy”. Her feelings were fully reciprocated, with Thatcher being awarded an honorary degree from a university in Dr. Mahathir’s constituency.” Mutual love between the two.

Dr M again made DPM Anwar introduce BBL policy in 1994 after the Sunday Times ran several expose suggesting high level corruption in Malaysian Government tendering process involving him. NYT speculates a disobeying Anwar could have triggered Dr M. nytimes.com/1994/03/10/opi…

“It came as the British Parliament and press probed possible illegal links between a 1.3 billion pounds arms sale to Malaysia, signed by Dr. Mahathir and Thatcher in 1988, and aid for the Pergau hydroelectric dam in Kelantan.”

“In a lengthy letter to the Financial Times, Dr. Mahathir said, “Of course the natives are corrupt. They must be because they are not British and not white.” Instead of answering the critics, Dr M went racial and nationalistic. Najib did the same too when scandals engulfed him.

“Dr. Mahathir moved quickly to limit the scope and shorten the duration of the boycott this time – seven months – mindful that London might retaliate with the backing of its European partners.” As times progressed, old tricks didn’t work.

“The most far-reaching outcome of Dr M’s first US visit, was a security – not an economic – agreement, when details began to leak almost two decades later, “a secret defense treaty”.

“Without informing his countrymen and women, Dr. M threw in his lot with the Americans, agreeing to naval ship visits, ship and aircraft repairs, joint military exercises in Malaysia and close cooperation between the two militaries.” Publicly opposing US, privately in agreement.

“The innocuous sounding Bilateral Training and Consultation (BITAC) agreement entered into by Malaysia and the United States in 1984 established a series of working groups for exercises, intelligence sharing, logistics support and general security issues.”

Dr Mahathir‘s relationship with Australia was also a troubled one throughout his reign.

“He had trouble with Aus PM Bob Hawke, in 1986, for describing the execution of two Australian drug traffickers as “barbaric”; Paul Keating, in 1993, over calling Dr. M “recalcitrant” for not attending the first APEC forum; and John Howard for expressing concern about Anwar.”

“Dr. Mahathir’s regular skirmishes with Western governments, together with his use of crude language and references to race and religion, invited the judgment that he was blindly anti-Caucasian – and anti-Semitic, since the religion he targeted was usually Judaism,” Barry Wain.

“Dr. Mahathir had the habit of denigrating anyone or anything he did not like, and he was not about to restrain himself over Jews.”

“Dr. Mahathir dealt similarly, and at length, with Malaysia’s Chinese and Malays – complete with theories of inbreeding – reserving his harshest judgment for his own community. He described the Malays as chronically backward and subservient.”

“Inheriting a concern for the liberation of Palestine, Dr. Mahathir pursued the issue with added fervour, excoriating Israel and its Western supporters, exposing what he called Zionist influence in international news organizations.” This is largely true.

At the end of all these, what exactly is Dr M’s achievement in foreign policy? May be the freedom of Bosnia but that too mainly with the Western Military help.

The topic on the turmoil of 1998 will fire up every reformasi activist and Anwar supporters. It is full of fire. The entire force of the Prime Minister’s Office descended on Anwar to keep him in jail for many years.

After revising the topic, it is clear that it was a very magnanimous act of DS @anwaribrahim to support Tun @chedetofficial during the GE14 despite the very bad blood between the two. Wait for further update on this.

20 September 1998, the full weight of the State descended on the designated heir, Anwar Ibrahim, the man who wanted to reform things from the inside for 16 years.

“While Dr. Mahathir ensured that Anwar did not succeed him, it was some thing of a Pyrrhic victory. Large numbers of Malaysians, especially Malays, remained alienated and looked upon Dr. Mahathir as an ogre. No matter how he tried, Dr. Mahathir could never bury the Anwar issue.“

“Dr. Mahathir’s dismissal of Anwar ended a relationship that was long, complicated and, in part, personal as well as professional.” Dr Mahathir befriended Anwar whenever he was in trouble but other times, he jailed him.

“In 1968, Anwar took over the two major Malay student organizations in the country, uniting the Malay nationalist and Islamic streams. Anwar and other students would visit Dr. Mahathir at his residence in Kuala Lumpur, at his invitation, to discuss shared concerns.“

“Anwar and his followers admired the outspoken Dr. M, and they supported him when he lost his seat in the 1969 election and blamed Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman’s allegedly pro-Chinese policies for the “May 13” tragedy that followed.” A in M’s side whenever M in trouble

“In the following decade, M and A found themselves not only on opposite sides of the political fence, but in conflict. Readmitted to UMNO in 1972, re-elected to Parli in 1974 and immediately appointed edu minister, Dr. M took a hard line to quell academic and student protests.”

“Dr. Mahathir strongly supported a government decision to arrest Anwar, then head of ABIM, without trial under the ISA, after he backed mass demonstrations to protest peasant suffering in Kedah in late 1974.” Anwar was jailed 22 months without trial.

“Undeterred by 22 months in detention, Anwar was still head of ABIM and leading a broad coalition of non-governmental organizations against a proposed piece of legislation that would have tightened government control of voluntary associations, ...

including religious and student organizations (tightening of Societies Act), trade unions and professional and consumer groups, when Dr. Mahathir recruited him as a candidate in 1982.”

At that time Dr M recruited A, he was in trouble with so many within UMNO and outside. Not in good terms with @TheTunku as always, @tengkurazaleigh the competitor looming in a corner, with a fight with Royalty and an independent judiciary & resurgent PAS, M needed A, the orator!

After joining Tun Mahathir, Anwar toned down his radical rhetoric and became an obedient and “relatively quiet cog in the Mahathir administration machinery. The struggle against draconian changes to Societies Act was abandoned by Anwar.

“Anwar articulately argued the case to reform the monarchy. Anwar was a member of the “AIDS” group – Anwar Ibrahim, Daim Zainuddin and Sanusi Junid – which provided crucial support for Dr. Mahathir against @tengkurazaleigh.”

“In turn, Dr. M appointed DSAI to a succession of portfolios tailor made to equip him to take over the top post. After a year as a deputy minister attending to Islamic affairs, Anwar was made minister for youth, culture and sports, going on to spend 2 years in the agriculture.”

“and five years in education before being named finance minister in 1991. His parallel rise through UMNO ranks was even more impressive.“ Two months after joining UMNO, he won the UMNO youth chief post and by 1990, he scored the highest votes for UMNO VP post.

The difference between MM and AI was there from the beginning. MM accumulated financial scandal after financial scandal. AI waited in the wings. MM into physical things, AI philosophical. MM intent on producing billionaires. AI was on poverty eradication.

Tun Mahathir began to start suspecting Anwar when Anwar contested for Deputy Presidency post against Tun Ghafar Baba at the last minute despite promising not to do so. Anwar’s Team Wawasan swept all VP posts which included Muhyiddin, Najib and Mat Tyson.

After that, the situation always become tense as people speculated Anwar’s takeover of the Government, Tun M continuing to assert his authority and Anwar keep on pledging loyalty with no definite transition plan. Exactly like what happened in the 22 months PH rule.

Dr M began his manoeuvres to make UMNO anti-democratic my making the delegates vote for no contest for top posts. He continued to make changes that made virtually impossible for Anwar to challenge him. The changes he made also allowed Najib to stay despite his mega corruption.

The link seem to have broken.

https://twitter.com/FreeMsian/status/1345247563268694019?s=20

Despite Tun M’s call to stop, the attack against Anwar never stopped and got into Top Gear. This could not have gone on without some tacit support from Dr M himself. Further, 1997 Financial Crisis brought Tun M and Anwar face to face. M the fan of Mega projects, Anwar austerity.

“Despite Anwar’s public opposition to bailouts, the government threw lifelines to some major companies aligned with factions or prominent figures in UMNO. Anwar and Dr. Mahathir argued privately over payment to Ting Pek Khiing, the entrepreneur behind the postponed Bakun Dam, and

to Mirzan, for the purchase of the entire shipping business of his Konsortium Perkapalan Bhd. by Petronas. Now, Dr. M had reason to share the doubts about Anwar’s willingness to protect certain interests after Dr. M’s premiership.” Perhaps the same reason why M still desist Anwar

Musa Hitam told Barry Wain: “To put it simply, this is all about the search for the next leader who could ensure that the past leader and his cronies will not be in trouble.” Same thing happened in 2020.

Despite the country was drowning in Financial Crisis, that didn’t stop Tun Mahathir from thinking about more Mega Projects, this time about a RM10 billion land bridge to Thailand. His cronies might have bought land surrounding it.

Anwar saw the Financial Crisis as an opportunity to reform. Mahathir saw this as a foreign conspiracy. He was completely scared when he saw how the corrupt Suhorto was driven away from office.

Then he took drastic efforts to change UMNO election rules to make it impossible for UMNO renewal. His position is cemented and Anwar was cornered.

Zahid Hamidi decried UMNO no contest rule. Dr M saw that as a naked threat. He warned his party. Tun Daim called Zahid to back off. Zahid went ahead to speak about cronyism and corruption anyway. Though subsequently Anwar himself failed to echo Zahid, by then all hell break loose

Dr M unleashed fury and turned the tables on Anwar. He released the list of cronies who benefited from Government contracts. That included his own son and a number of cronies associated with Anwar himself. Zahid himself earned millions from his association with Govt.

Flashback on Zahid Hamidi’s wealth. He owned RM230 million by then. For a guy who could hardly communicate but had so much money, that was the secret of UMNO. malaysiakini.com/news/390643

The 50 Dalil Mengapa Anwar Tidak Boleh Jadi PM makes its round in UMNO General Assembly. Anwar obtains a court order to block distribution. But it didn’t work and authorities didn’t stop the distribution.

Daim walks in, this time warns Anwar directly. Anwar confronts Mahathir. Mahathir calls AG to hold off from filing any charges against Anwar.

Dr Mahathir prepares for a Tsunami under the disguise of explaining “economic problems“ but quietly to shore up support for himself. Singapore bogeyman comes in handy. Bank Negara Governor forced to exit. Capital control comes in on 1 September 1998 without a squeak from Anwar.

On 2 September 1998, political earthquake arrives. “Resign or be sacked.” Anwar responds with defiance. Then, the same day evening, axe comes down fast.

If you think about it, it is a god-sent blessings they fought instead of keeping things quietly behind all our back with Zahid Hamidi becoming a number 2 man to Anwar. They would have been corrupt anyway. But the things that happened to Anwar subsequently were sad.

Anwar‘s unsavory friend Nallakaruppan, was the first catch. He was DPM’s friend who could have been the PM, so he had kept some extra bullets and that gave bullet to Dr M to castrate him. But added to the charge were irrelevant affidavits concerning Anwar’s alleged affairs.

Though the Police affidavits were irrelevant to the charge, Gani Patail’s brother Abdul Wahab Patail, refused to embargo the affidavits. The pliant press went full blown publishing details about the affidavits. Anwar’s name besmirched.

Though Nallakaruppan later said he was forced to confess due to Police Brutality in custody and many of the sexual exploits allegations made against Anwar never made it into any criminal charge, the damage against Anwar was done.

Sodomy was illegal in Malaysia since colonial days but in Malaysia it is not something uncommon. Not many people were charged for sodomy unless it is a rape. Within UMNO itself, there were many bisexuals. But Anwar was subjected to the charge as he defied the ultimatum.

Sometimes, Dr Mahathir will say that his partymen alleged to have committed a criminal offence could not be punished until the courts rule on the matter. In Anwar’s case, he was dismissed from the party immediately even before he was charged in a court.

Dr Mahathir was able to convince UMNO of Anwar’s “guilt” very swiftly. But with the Malays, Dr Mahathir failed. Anwar essentially tapped a deep vein of resentment especially among the Malays and young people, over the rampant use of money and connections by UMNO.

As Anwar was making big waves among mostly urban young Malays, Special Branch sprang into action. They arrested Anwar’s speechwriter Munawar Ahmad Anees and Anwar’s “adopted brother“ Sukma Darmawan Sasmitat Madja. Later, Munawar claimed he was brutalised and drugged in custody.

Despite being tried in different courts, both Munawar and Sukma were given identical prison sentence of 6 months after they pleaded guilty. Amnesty International condemned the arrest and conviction of Munawar and Sukma as politically-motivated prosecution. amnesty.org/download/Docum…

After Munawar and Sukma pleaded guilty for sodomy by Anwar, balaclava-clad policemen moved in to arrest Anwar on 20.09.98, which also the day reformasi supporters demonstrated in front of Dr M’s house. Also happened to be the day of British Queen’s visit. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-paci…

Within half an hour after being placed in a cell in Bukit Aman, Anwar was beaten to pulp by none other than the then IGP Rahim Noor, who was tapped by Mahathir again during PH rule, much to the dismay of @n_izzah

An injured Anwar was left without treatment for five days. Instead of charging him for sodomy the next day, Anwar Ibrahim was detained under ISA, which provides for indefinite detention. They didn’t want Anwar’s wounds to be known to anyone.

For days, Rahim Noor lied that Anwar was fine but truth was, he was left without any medical treatment. On 29.09.1998, when Anwar appeared with a black eye, Tun Mahathir further enraged reformasi supporters by claiming that Anwar could have injured himself news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-paci…

An “independent“ police enquiry which took 4 months concluded that Anwar was indeed assaulted but perpetrators “unknown.“ Only after a RCI was appointed, Rahim Noor confessed that he was the one who beat Anwar but he was ridiculously jailed only for just 2 months.

Anwar was charged with 5 counts of corruption and five counts of sodomy but after a comedy of errors, they withdrew the sodomy charges and only corruption remained. The corruption didn’t involve money but a request made by Anwar to Police was turned into abuse of power.

The comedy of errors in Anwar’s first sodomy trial and the boo-boo by the Judge Augustine Paul who ruled almost all Defence arguments as irrelevant and the conspiracy by Gani Patail.

In the end, Gani Patail withdrew the sodomy charge and only the “corruption” charge was tried. Augustine Paul ruled Anwar guilty on all 4 counts and sentenced him for 6 years. "I have been dealt a judgment that stinks to high heaven," Anwar declared. edition.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/…

Just 2 weeks later, on 27.04.1999 Anwar was brought to court again, this time on modified charges of him and Sukma sodomising Anwar’s driver Azizan Abu Bakar. They left out the details on the exact date of the incident and gave a range of time this time theguardian.com/world/1999/apr…

Reason for the amended charge was because Anwar and Sukma produced alibi that the supposed venue, Tivoli Villa, was not even ready for occupancy in May 1992 and as such, impossible for sodomy to have occurred.

Karpal Singh, Anwar‘s lawyer, also got into trouble after he alleged that urine sample of Anwar smuggled out secretly shows high level of arsenic poisoning. A later sample by the Government showed everything was normal.

Unlike Augustine Paul, Ariffin Jaka allowed the Defence to raise political conspiracy. Witnesses told that Dr M’s political secretary Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin was aware of plans to destroy Anwar’s reputation. Ummi Hafilda’s (Azmin’s sister) ex-boyfriend told she was promised money.

On 8.8.2000, Ariffin Jaka found Anwar and Sukma guilty of sodomising Azizan on one night between Jan and Mar 1993 and sentenced both of them to 9 years. Ariffin dismissed political conspiracy theory. The judgement was solely based on Azizan’s testimony. theguardian.com/world/2000/aug…

On 2.9.2004, almost a year after Mahathir has left the scene, the Federal Court overturned the sodomy conviction. Obviously, Pak Lah had taken a hands off approach in judiciary affairs was everyone’s belief. Common sense got restored in judiciary in Anwar’s case.

Contrast Anwar’s case with Haziq Abdullah and Azmin. Haziq made specific allegation that he had intimate relations with Azmin and confirmed the CCTV video as correct. Yet Dr M decried it as political conspiracy and police eventually ruled as no case. thesundaily.my/local/azmin-an…

It goes to show it is not that Dr M is totally against LGBT activities. It is only when his political enemies do or allegedly do it becomes an issue for him.

There is much more in the Book The Malaysian Maverick. If you find it interesting, you should get hold of the book, the original version, either the physical or ebook.

But my thread ends here. I hope I have given enough details on the kind of corruption and abuse of power that goes around in the Corridors of Power.

The author of the Book, Barry Wain, being a journalist of the highest order, who observed the events close enough from South East Asia but at the same time, a non-partisan person because he is not a Malaysian, has given an excellent picture on what happened during Tun M’s reign.

Tun M was a great politician no doubt. But he is not a statesman. His shortcut taking for the problems he faced have only destroyed the institutions that allowed a blatant thief like Najib Razak to thrive and push Malaysian finance into a more desperate state. The End.