I read with disgust and repulse of the venom spewed by Tun Mahathir these past weeks. The vitriol was sickening, to say the least, reminding himself that he must not rest until Malaysia is shredded and torn to bits.
But the more he spins his web of lies, negating the fact that Malaysia is a multiracial, multiethnic, multicultural nation, the more Malaysians – from all walks of life, stand together to put him in his place, and to nullify and rebut his call for divisive politics – not along the lines of principles and political belief but through stained lenses on race, ethnicity and religion.
After Mahathir became Prime Minister of Malaysia for the second time, under Pakatan Harapan, Sultan Nazrin Shah as Deputy Agong, in November 2018, said “building a multi-racial and multi-religious nation is a complex, complicated and ongoing process”.
In July 2019, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah stated “Many people say we are disunited. We have to understand that we live in a multi-racial country. Each race has its own stance. This does not mean that we should be disunited.”
In August 2020, in conjunction with National Day celebrations and the 50th Anniversary of Rukun Negara, His Majesty called on the people to appreciate and safeguard the country’s independence and peace. “Indeed, peace and harmony in a multiracial society is the backbone of a nation’s strength.” he said.
In February 2023, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, in his address at the opening of the first meeting of the second session of the 15th Parliament, noted that the spirit of goodwill and respect among races is the basis of the country’s stability.
“Harmony, through the idea of unity based on the principles of the Federal Constitution, should be our main agenda for the sake of our beloved country.The agenda of unity in the cultural context also needs to be focused through the implementation of programmes oriented to the unity of the country’s multiracial communities” he said.
The mention of a multiracial Malaysia has been proclaimed by the King in his royal addresses, whether in Parliament, on his birthday and through many festive greetings, with the Queen, to all Malaysians.
Reading Mahathir’s statements through his tweets and through news portals reminded me of a personality that my late father P. Patto bitterly resented. Joseph Arthur de Gobineau, the Father of Racism, who through his French aristocratic upbringing, cemented and legitimised racism as well as discrimination based on class – between aristocrats and commoners. He constantly spoke about how commoners were inferior to aristocrats and throughout his life as a political envoy to many countries – perpetuated his idea of racism and hated the fact that some countries, like Persia in 1855 where he was on duty as first secretary, treated blacks equally. He was shocked that racial prejudices were beyond this nation.
A point to note : he hated democracy as well.
Comparing notes of Gobineau’s ideologies on racism and Mahathir’s incessant and endless ranting on race politics in Malaysia, denying a multiracial Malaysia in these past few days and weeks has made me conclude 2 things that both these men have in common.
They both lived in constant fear and hated democracy.
Mahathir as Prime Minister TWICE in Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and from 2018 to 2020 should have moulded him to be the statesman that patriotic Malaysians desire and deserve to see.
In his tenure, he feared voices of dissent, and launched the Operasi Lalang dragnet, carrying out mass arrests using the draconian Internal Security Act 1960 (now abolished), placing detainees under detention without trial and for unknown periods of time. Yes, it was Mahathir who wished to be a part of Pakatan Harapan which led to a historical victory in the 14thGeneral Elections and he being reinstated as Prime Minister for the second time. Little did we know that we breathed life into Mahathir to hold the reigns in Malaysia up to the point of an acid betrayal in February 2020.
As elections are looming in 6 states on the 12th of August, we witness a different Mahathir, weak and afraid of his own doing, afraid of a robust thriving democracy, afraid of a revival of Malaysian-ism where peace-loving Malaysians embrace the differences we have in this melting pot of language, culture, beliefs, religion, and ethnicity that is globally envied by many and afraid of a multiracial, multicultural Malaysia we all call home, we all call our tanahair.
Mahathir’s Dilemma is that he still behaves like a doctor who believes that Malaysians are gullible to buy in, lock stock and barrel, ideas that racial prejudices contributes to nation building which he has prescribed for decades, when instead has caused a fracture in our nation.
Mahathir’s Dilemma is that he, who was once known as Bapa Pemodenan or the Father of Modernisation in the 80s and 90s in Malaysia that saw a surge in economic development and modernisation, seems to be working up a sweat to change this title, and is today the man whose main goal is to push a wedge between Malaysians, between the Malays and non Malays, between Bumiputeras and non-Bumiputeras and between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Yes, there are differences between all the above but to use it as a tool in an attempt to stir hatred, to influence, sway and divert the attention of voters in the coming state elections is a desperate measure by a very weak and desperate man.
Let the likes of Gobineau stay within the annals of French history. Malaysia is better off without a local Gobineau, expressing hate speech, divisive politics, racial prejudices and discrimination.
Our strength is in our diversity and differences, our multiculturalism and our multiracialism. Let no one tell us, Malaysians, otherwise or take that away from us.