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• Takziah

Responses || Discussion || Debates || Commentaries

1. Wow. Its amazing that he is still around.

   Its a shame that the host couldn’t name anyone being thrown into ISA. I thought if he had named someone, that’ll bring about some sort of embarrassment to the old man. But no.

   And perhaps this is just me reading this late into the night, but I really thought he made fair justifications for some of his actions. Don’t you think so?

   But I guess, what was bad is still bad. I am gonna have to watch this next time I am not as sleepy.

   Comment published by audi on 23 April 2008.
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2. I managed to catch the interview on Astro and thought that Dr M while on the defensive most of the time still has the fire in his belly to stand firm for what he believes. There have many lately that have been asking Dr M to stop commenting and quietly retreat from politics but can I empathize with his wanting to correct the mistake he made by appointing Badawi as PM.

   Many lately too have been quick to point out that Dr M was the cause of all the corruption, cronyism, nepotism and the problems with the judiciary in our beloved country. It saddens me that this man who has served this country for 22 years and brought upon wealth, prosperity and advancement to this nation can be chastised as such. I certainly do not deny that there is cause to some of the accusations against him but is he the only one to blame?

   Dr M is a last breed of leaders amongst those like Lee Kuan Yew and Suharto who led their respective countries to great heights but in order to do so had to make tough and and unpopular decisions. That was what made them great leaders. Being a leader is not about wanting people to like you but having the ability to make people follow your lead to achieve the goal that is required.

   I have nothing but great respect for this man for having the guts to speak his mind even if that makes him unpopular. His comments regarding Israel in particular was spot on. No one seems to be able to say anything against them without being labeled as anti-semitic but It’s perfectly ok to call Palestinians who only want to able to live their lives without being constantly harassed by the Israeli military terrorists. Freedom of speech my ass indeed.

   But I digress, I just hope that we can appreciate and be great full for all that
   Dr M has done for this country.

   Comment published by Fazly on 23 April 2008.
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3. I agree to a certain point what Fazly has said. It is quite amazing to see such an old man still have fire in his answers, and they’re quite sensible ones at that. He has defended quite strongly what he did during his 22 years in power, and he’s still defending for what he believes in.

   i don’t necessarily agree with a lot of things that he has done during his premiership, nor do I agree with a lot of things that he has said AFTER he stepped down. But I do have to give him credit for leading Malaysia, and quite successfully, if I may say so.

   He’s definitely not the only one to blame for a lot of things that he’s being accused of. But being the Prime Minister when he was, he was the one in power to check all these and keep them at bay. One can only assume that it was with his “blessing”, so to speak, that so many things happened during his time.

   I personally don’t like the man very much. Never did really. But not liking him is a personal thing. Rationally, he has done so much for this country that it is difficult to not feel grateful.

   But maybe he’s criticising everyone a bit too much. He had nothing good to say about most people from UMNO. Nor did he have anything good to say about the opposition. For now, what I can see is that no one is in his good books. Simply by defending himself, and criticising others, is not going to bring about the change that we want to see in the country.

   Comment published by Michelle on 23 April 2008.
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4. It has been in Dr M’s blood to be blunt in what he says. This did not happen overnight but since his youth days. And also he is a doctor by profession, problem solving by nipping it early in the bud. In a way our culture is not forgiving to accept criticism openly and we tend to be sensitive rather than objective in our response. But given the quality of our representatives, I think it is good for him to continue tickle our mind.

   Yes, he had made many mistakes during his reign as PM, but at the same time he was single handed. We can see the qualities of the ministers in his cabinet now that he is no longer the PM. The same ministers now appear like non performers compared to the days when he was PM. Dr M had to make many tough decisions during his tenure and of course on hindsight we now know which were right and wrong ones. The wealth that he created for the people also brought in the ugly side of human such as greed and corruption. I do wish that he had focused on this issue deeper rather than letting the problems grow to what it is today.

   But like Michel and Fazly said, we cannot deny that Dr M had made a tremendous positive impact to the country albeit the nature of the man that many cannot accept. Remember 1997 when we were struggling to survive the onslaught on our currency? He is still the man that the West was happy to see him retired.

   Comment published by Moha on 24 April 2008.
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5. The very irony now is… UMNO has Badawi now. and the Opposition -Pakatan has Anuar now.

   The 2 people our Dr M wanting to kick / had kick.

   Being neither nor?

   Comment published by M on 26 April 2008.
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6. Dr M is little understood by non-Malaysians. He truly does think for himself. I think that, given time, especially post-humously, he will be regarded as someone great.

   Comment published by anon on 30 April 2008.
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7. HOW EVER EVERY LEADER HAS THEIR OWN REASON..FOR THEMSEIF OR COUNTRY..IM CHINESE I HOPE TO SEE GOOD CHANGE IN MALAYSIA..LIKE BERSATU KITA MAJU..EQUAL,HUMAN RIGHT,GREAT LEADER NOT LIKE BADAWI,THATS HOW MALAYSIA GO STRONG..NO WAR ,PEACE,JUSTICE,HELP EASH OTHER,

   Comment published by LIM ENG LYE on 4 May 2008.
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8. Fazly you stupid stupid man.

   Why do u think that the reason we are prosperous is due to the ‘contribution’ of Dr. Mahathir? Have u never thought? The people whom were responsible for the development of our country is our people itself. During the industrialization of our country, it was our dirt cheap labor which encouraged multinational companies to invest and built factories here. One need not a Dr. Mahathir to come and whisk us off to success. Its the work of the free market, honey. Look at Hong Kong. They were impoverish and have absolutely punitive resources and yet they are so much more prosperous than us. Name me a Hong Kong leader whom were responsible for that. None. Hong Kong had almost no governance, running through a policy of ‘benevolent neglect’ by their previous British colonist. In a nutshell, laizzes faire free market = economic prosperity. Not government. And just in case u’ve forgotten your history, it is only when the government decided to give multinational companies tax breaks do they decide to pour their investment in. (just in case u don’t know the principles of economics, tax break = less government)

   To need someone to constantly lead us is admitting that we are not capable and smart enough to lead our own lives. And so what if some might not be? It is time they take up responsibility to guide their life into the right direction. Let it be clear that their action will yield consequences, thus it is their own responsibilities to take the right actions. Only cows need to be pulled and guided by their noses.

   And i sure as hell hope that Abdullah does not step down as prime minister if it means that that would bring BN back into power. He is on the right track towards the decentralizing and weakening of governmental power. Rock on Pak Lah! Big government is easily corrupted.

   Comment published by i am who i am on 17 May 2008.
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9. Oh, and it’s ok for Malaysia to continue supporting the systematic Darfurian genocide in Sudan by it’s not ok for Israel to defend itself from the constant threat of terrorist suicide bombings?

   Why don’t he then condemn the investors supporting the killings of African Muslims and Christians by the Janjaweed?

   And plus it is offensive to deny the Holocaust not only to the Jewish people, but it is also terribly offensive to the Germans you know. Denying the Holocaust is denying a part of the Germanic history. It is as though some people just decided that the Germans were wrong in their history. ‘Oh no, you are mistaken, the Holocaust never happened. Let us re-write your history for you Germany!’

   Comment published by i am who i am on 17 May 2008.
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