MAHATHIR: In Defeat. Malice. In Victory. Revenge!

When I look at Mahathir and knowing what I know of him – I am reminded of this line:

“In Defeat, Malice. In Victory. Revenge”

Translated that means he is a bad loser and if he wins a fight he will still not be satisfied until he has buried you six feet underground and build another Petronas Tower on top of your grave! It is said that a person who is nice to you, but rude to his subordinate, is not a nice man. Mahathir is not a nice man! He does not fight his personal battle with others by himself. He uses other people to stand in front of him while he hides behind that shield.

In Defeat Malice:

Mahathir was expelled from UMNO in 1969 and in defeat he wrote “The Malay Dilemma” which was banned in Malaysia then. Can you imagine what Mahathir would do if somebody that he expelled from UMNO went and wrote a book like the Malay Dilemma? For sure the ISA will be used to teach him a lesson. He should thank God that Tunku was not one to harbour malice against anyone – not even his enemies.

In 1981 Tengku Razaleigh nearly successful challenge to be UMNO Deputy Leader was derailed when Mahathir declared his support for Musa because he felt challenged by the ground swell of support for Ku Li. Divide and rule.

Later when Musa had served his purpose and Mahathir wrongly perceived that Musa was disloyal to him – he went on the offensive against Musa, which eventually resulted in Musa resigning from the post of DPM.

With Pak Lah. He lost face when his pet project, the crooked bridge and the CIQ complex were shelfed. Like a little kid who did not get the sweets he wanted Mahathir threw a tantrum and out of spite resigned from UMNO. When he did not get the expected massive outpouring of support from other UMNO members to resign with him he went back to what he was good at. His Machiavellian ways – wanting to win at any cost whether through deceit or any other under-the-table behavior. As a Malay I was embarrass at the manner in which he went on and on stabbing the very man he himself had chosen to succeed him. He brought in his son Mukriz, to stand against KJ in Pemuda. He lost but prevailed on Najib to take him into the cabinet – not remembering that he chose to push Muhyiddin into the number two slot instead of allowing Najib a free hand to decide. Najib did not have enough balls to stand up Mahathir  - knowing that to some extent Mahathir’s had pressurized Pak Lah to step down – thus giving Najib earlier passage to the PM’s position.

But would Mahathir’s support once gain proves to be the kiss of death for Muhyiddin and we must not forget Najib’s cousin Hishamuddin lurking in the shadows. Here again we see Mahthir full of malice even when in defeat.

In Victory. Revenge.

In 1988 Mahathir’s Team A went against team B (Ku Li and Musa). Mahathir Team A won and in victory REVENGE. He went on a witch-hunt purging all Team B members not only out of the cabinet but also at state and local government level – despite the fact that Musa graciously accept defeat and pledged to work with him.

Marina Yusof, who jumped ship from UMNO to Semagat 46 is a good example of what Mahathir did to those that crosses his path. The Marinara Building saga is a classic case of Mahathir pursuing someone even though he has won the battle. Malays killing Malays!

With Anwar – he brought in Daem and the judiciary. Having ousted Anwar out of the DPM post – which meant that he had won the battle against Anwar – he still pursued Anwar relentlessly through a corrupt judiciary. Eventually he was only satisfied when he thought he had checkmate Anwar with six years in prison. Revenge in victory! 

But the battle is not over for Anwar and for us. For Mahathir age will be his nemesis. At 84 time is not on his side. None of his children have been able to bring themselves to be half the man their father has been in accepting that the end justifies the means…possibly having massive amount of money have made them lazy.

Mahthir is still trying to impose upon what is left of UMNO his Machiavellian ways. His rationale now is that UMNO needs him to survive. Only he can save UMNO. Only he knows how. Only he has the resolve to save UMNO. That he was the one who have brought UMNO to its knees. That he was the one that brought ‘kebendaan’ into UMNO. That he was the one that honed UMNO into what it is now – that UMNO now stands for greed, deceit and arrogance …..that he is the one responsible for all this sadly escapes him. In my opinion the greatest tragedy for Mahathir is his inability to understand where he is at today. Gone are his days of power, influence and glory. Dear God give him the wisdom to understand that.