During Dr M's time, criticism was not tolerated at all

Tengku Razaleigh: During Dr M's time, criticism was not tolerated at all ...

Wednesday, 19 April 2006, 08:12 (www.malaysianbar.org.my)
By Wan Hamidi Hamid (New Straits Times)

On unfamiliar and SHIFTING ground Leaders disagree with Dr M’s views
KUALA LUMPUR: Several MPs found themselves in unfamiliar territory yesterday: Having to disagree with a man they had either served or had grown up admiring.
Those who chose to go on record with their views on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s stinging attack on the Government for scrapping the bridge project did so in polite language.
One of them was Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, a former minister in Dr Mahathir’s Cabinet. He found it strange that someone who did not endear himself to the Opposition during his two decades as PM was now asking the public to criticise the Government.
He was also surprised that Dr Mahathir had become a strong advocate of Press freedom.
"I read that Dr Mahathir said the media did not want to publish or broadcast his views, yet during his time, I never had a chance to say anything to the media. But I did not complain about it."
Tengku Razaleigh challenged Dr Mahathir unsuccessfully for the Umno presidency in 1987. Following that, he formed Semangat 46 and contested two elections as an Opposition member before rejoining Umno in 1996.
"I also heard that Dr Mahathir had accused Umno members of being mute because they didn’t dare criticise the Government. During his time, criticism was not tolerated at all," he said, adding that the Government’s decision to abort the plan to build the bridge was good for the country.
On Monday, Dr Mahathir cautioned the current administration that "if you don’t listen to other opinions, you will go wrong. If you only listen to your supporters, they will not say anything and you will get the wrong idea.
"Please remember what happened to Tunku for not listening to the people. The most recent example would be Thaksin. They did not listen to the people and they got into trouble. Suppress people’s opinions and you may get away with the idea that you are right, but you will find out one day that you are wrong."
Malaysian Civil Liberties Society chairman Datuk Zaid Ibrahim noted that accepting diverse opinions was a sign of a tolerant and open Government. "It’s only fair for the Prime Minister to accept criticism from others. This shows his openness towards views and ideas of the people," said the Kota Baru Member of Parliament.
Kemaman MP Ahmad Shabery Cheek recalled the unease people felt in the late 1980s when former Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman began to publicly criticise Dr Mahathir.
"I’m afraid the sentiment will prevail if Dr Mahathir continues to do the same to our Prime Minister. The Malays have a saying that it is not smart to spit when you’re looking up at the sky."
Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim argued that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi paid heed to public sentiment. He noted that Abdullah had been going to the ground to get views and feedback from various segments of society. One clear example was that the PM listened to different groups before putting together the Ninth Malaysia Plan. "I do see Pak Lah as a good listener. Dr Mahathir is also the same.
"Both are great listeners of the people. Otherwise, they could not be Prime Ministers," he said after launching Sinema Malaysia, a local entertainment magazine, at the Finas Studio yesterday.
Tell Us What You Think


FREEDOM OF THE PRESS?
Written by Stephen Tan Ban Ceng on 2006-04-19 08:46:20
Freedom of the Press during the Dr M regime?
This is a non-question. There is a colony of ex-Malaysian journalists in Australia and Hong Kong, and there are a few scattered in the United States, Canada and New Zealand.
All because of what they saw in Operation Lalang in October 1987.
Freedom of the Press during the Dr M regime?
The Star, The Sin Chew and Watan were closed for more months than most of our Cabinet members care to think about. And these journalists and others in related fields were shorn of their wages - their main financial plank.
And they had mouths to feed and promises to keep ... before they lost their jobs because of an administrative directive.
Freedom of the Press during the Dr M regime?
THAT is a non-question.
I speak as one who was affected by the five-and-a-half months closure of The Star. I am NOT amused when I lose my job through no fault of my own! More so when I lose my job by administrative fiat.
At 56, I am prepared to lose my LIFE!!! Damn, damn and damn those who made that decision to close the papers.
I will NEVER EVER forgive them even if I live a thousand lives!!!

Mahathir launches scathing attack on Abdullah govt

Wednesday, 19 April 2006, 07:30 (www.malaysianbar.org.my)
By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Correspondent, The Straits Times, Singapore

KUALA LUMPUR - THE gloves have come off. Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has launched his harshest attack yet on his successor, slamming the Malaysian government for selling out to Singapore by scrapping plans to replace the Causeway with a bridge.
Speaking on the subject for the third time in a week since Kuala Lumpur decided last Wednesday to shelve the project, he said he could not stay silent if 'somebody wants to sell Malaysia to other people'.
Referring to a promise he made in October 2003 about not interfering in the government after his retirement, he said yesterday: 'They think just because I gave that assurance, therefore they can do what they like.
'I may give that assurance, but if somebody wants to sell Malaysia to other people - because selling sand is tantamount to selling land to other people as the sand will be used for reclamation. We made a mistake of giving Singapore to the British. You want to give some more?'
The KL Cabinet had called off the project because of strong opposition to selling sand to Singapore or allowing its fighter jets to train in Johor airspace, and a possible legal challenge by Singapore to any action to remove the Causeway unilaterally.
Yesterday, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi defended his decision to shelve the project, saying it was the right option and that it was a unanimous one reached by the Cabinet.
He said: 'As far as the government is concerned, it was a unanimous decision by the Cabinet and the Cabinet had the chance to discuss the issue and that was our decision. We believe we made the right decision.'
It is no secret that Tun Dr Mahathir has been peeved by what he sees as a dismantling of his legacy, for instance, with the national car Proton losing its special status. However, he had previously refrained from an open attack on Datuk Seri Abdullah, his handpicked successor, though often criticising him in private.
But since the bridge was shelved, he has set aside all restraint. On Monday, he went as far as warning the government that it would go wrong if it ignored the people's views.
'Please remember what happened to Tunku for not listening to the people,' he said, referring to Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first premier.
'The most recent example would be Thaksin. They did not listen to the people and they got into trouble. Suppress people's opinion and you may get away with the idea that you are right, but you will find out one day that you are wrong.' Tun Dr Mahathir's anger has been building up since Datuk Seri Abdullah cancelled one of his projects, a RM14.4 billion (S$6.7 billion) electrification of the peninsula railway line.
One of the biggest blows came in 2004 when former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim was freed from jail.
Tun Dr Mahathir's unhappiness extends to the media. On Monday, he said some newspapers had received phone calls asking them 'not to print this and that'. He had not interfered in the media in that way, he said before leaving later on Monday night for a two-week vacation in London.
He recently told senior politicians that he had stopped holding his tongue. He reportedly told them he was hurt that Datuk Seri Abdullah had gone back on his word not to dismantle his legacy.
Tell Us What You Think



VIRTU is the WORD, not GREASE!!!

Written by Stephen Tan Ban Cheng on 2006-04-19 09:03:57

I seem to recall an exuberant interview The New Straits Times had with Dr M when he was PM.
Dr M said in the interview that he had read Machiavelli.
I do not claim to have read Machiavelli, but only some parts.
To Machiavelli, in The Prince and The Discourses, I do believe he emphasised – like the Greek philosophers of old – on VIRTUE (virtu) as the most important asset for a leader.
Yes, I have also read the parts where he told his readers how to be cunning, how to exercise control over courtiers and all that.
What I learned and valued most from Machiavelli is the part about VIRTUE.
Do we have them? In Malaysia?
Yes, I see we do have leaders with such lofty values, but some of them are out of Cabinet and some not even in yet.
I shall be patient and wait, wait and wait.



Scenic Bridge Saga: Troubled waters over bridge

Tuesday, 18 April 2006, 10:12 (www.malaysianbar.org.my)
By Farrah Naz Karim (New Straits Times)

PUTRAJAYA: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched another blistering attack on the Government following its decision to scrap the building of a new bridge to replace the Causeway.
Dr Mahathir had mooted the bridge idea in 1996. However, the Cabinet unanimously decided last week to call it off, after Singapore, whose consent is required for the Causeway to be dismantled, had asked for one billion cubic metres of sand over 20 years and the use of Johor airspace for its military aircraft as a condition for building the bridge.
Dr Mahathir has several times expressed his unhappiness over the Cabinet decision although the public reaction, including that of Members of Parliament sitting in the current session, has been supportive of the Cabinet.
Yesterday, he asked the media not to suppress his comments and said he would continue to air his views. Dr Mahathir also claimed that some newspapers had received phone calls asking them "not to print this and that. Where is the Press freedom? I know the reporters are also unhappy because what they report is not published.
"Broadcast what I have to say. What I say is not even accurately published in the Press," said Dr Mahathir, who was also Home Minister for nearly 15 years during his tenure as Prime Minister.
"During my time, (Anwar Ibrahim) demonstrations were reported. We never rang up the Press to tell them not to report. We do not ring up the Press."
Dr Mahathir, who retired in October 2003 saying he would not interfere with the running of the Government under the new administration, was asked whether he was going back on his word by repeatedly attacking the Government’s decisions.
He said: "They think just because I gave that assurance, therefore they can do what they like. I may give that assurance, but if somebody wants to sell Malaysia to other people... because selling sand is tantamount to selling land to other people as the sand will be used for reclamation.
"We made a mistake of giving Singapore to the British. You want to give some more?" (The Cabinet scrapped the decision to build the bridge because it did not want to supply sand to Singapore or allow its use of Johor airspace.)
Dr Mahathir said he would continue to give his opinion as "I never thought in my lifetime that this country would surrender its sovereignty to anybody. "We fought very hard for independence, not these people, of course... we try to restore Malaysia’s honour. It took a long time to restore maruah bangsa. Today, people respect us. But if we do this and surrender to Singapore, then you lose your honour."
Dr Mahathir maintained there was "no legal reason for us not to (go ahead with the bridge)".
"The reason we cannot talk with Singapore is because they want to link everything to everything. One thing cannot be resolved, everything cannot be resolved, that is how they do things."
Dr Mahathir claimed that in a letter written to him by former Singapore PM Goh Chok Tong, "he said if we wanted to build bridge on our side, he would respect it even if it was not ideal to him. No conditions imposed".
Dr Mahathir, who himself did not brook much opposition when he was prime minister, cautioned the present administration that "if you don’t listen to other opinions, you will go wrong. If you only listen to your supporters, they will not say anything and you will get the wrong idea".
"Please remember what happened to Tunku for not listening to the people. The most recent example would be Thaksin. They did not listen to the people and they got into trouble. Suppress people’s opinion and you may get away with the idea that you are right but you will find out one day that you are wrong," he said.
Dr Mahathir was a strong critic of Tunku Abdul Rahman, the country’s first Prime Minister. However, shortly after he became Prime Minister, in a highly publicised event, Dr Mahathir kissed the Tunku’s hand and sought his forgiveness.
(Thaksin Shinawatra stepped down as Prime Minister earlier this month following street protests in Bangkok. He remains popular among Thailand’s majority rural population who have continued to support him. Thaksin’s party, Thai Rak Thai, won freshly held elections in Thailand this month — boycotted by the opposition — and remains in power.)
Asked whether he wanted to be a senior minister like Goh Chok Tong since he was continuously giving his opinions, Dr Mahathir said: "I am not going to be some senior minister or minister mentor. I am an ordinary citizen and as an ordinary citizen, I will voice my opinion.
"It is up to the Government to accept my views or not. It does not matter to me."
'We beg to differ. We would never sell the country off. What the Government did was the best decision in the existing circumstances.’

PUTRAJAYA: Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar had this to say about former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s criticisms of the Government over the decision to scrap the second bridge to Singapore:
“We beg to differ. We would never sell the country off. What the Government did was the best decision in the existing circumstances.”
Responding to Dr Mahathir’s argument that the bridge project should have gone ahead, Syed Hamid said each administration had its own approach in dealing with issues.
“(Dr Mahathir) must give a chance to the current leadership to do what is best in the circumstances. In the first place, it is not proper for us to go into a debate with a former prime minister, a senior statesman, for whom we all have great respect.”
Syed Hamid also disagreed with Dr Mahathir’s reiteration that it was Malaysia’s sovereign right to build its own portion of the bridge. on the Malaysian side.
“We had gone through it very carefully and thoroughly, we just cannot act unilaterally.
“Just as when Malaysia submitted its objections over Singapore’s reclamation work for international arbitration; if we had gone ahead and referred Singapore to the international court for this matter, it would be unending for years to come,” he said
As for statements by Dr Mahathir on “selling off the country”, Syed Hamid said this would never happen as the administration would do everything within its power to ensure the nation is not “sold off”, even if its decisions were “unfavourable to some”.
Syed Hamid Albar said if the Government had not scrapped the bridge project, it would have failed in its duty to the people. He reiterated that the Cabinet “unanimously decided” to scrap the project bridg only “after much deliberation, including on legal implications”.
He said in making the decision, the Cabinet members had participated in a lengthy discussion to weigh all matters concerned. The Cabinet, he said, was also briefed by the Attorney-General’s Chambers on the legal consequences had it gone ahead with the project, mooted some 10 years ago by Dr Mahathir.
Syed Hamid refused to comment further on the issue as he did not want to be “entangled in a debate” with the former prime minister.