The leaders and the people who think that the current state of the nation is as expected by the late Prime Minister, added former Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin, are those who don’t really understand his struggle and the journey of his soul as captured by poet Sabda S in his (Zainuddin’s) book, Tun Razak, In the Footsteps of a Patriot, (Tun Razak, Jejak Bertapak Seorang Patriot).
Without the heritage left behind by Razak, reminded the former Information Minister, Mahathir Mohamad would not have become Prime Minister. “Mahathir was Razak’s last legacy but the former left the nation in the hands of those who were not up to the task. All of them, one after another, have been bad for the country.”
Former Kedah Menteri Besar Sanusi Junid can be his witness, continued Zainuddin, that Razak did not want to accept Anwar Ibrahim. “Mahathir trusted Anwar so much and after that he placed his hopes on Najib Abdul Razak.”
On the 40th anniversary of Razak passing away, said Zainuddin, he was shedding tears in recalling not only the great heritage left behind by Razak but the degeneration, loss and destruction of the dignity of a people once respected by the whole world because they had a leader who sacrificed himself for them until the very last moment when he closed his eyes forever. “The praises being sung today, in memory of Razak, are based on hypocrisy of the leaders who don’t really believe in whatever they are saying. The destruction that has taken place under them can probably be never made good.”
Razak, said the veteran newsman who once helmed Utusan Malaysia as Editor-in-Chief, turned the people into one who were willing to take risks, migrate not only deep into the jungles but also to the towns to gamble on the odds. “He never sold Malay reservation land to outsiders. He came up with mechanisms and measures to maintain Malay assets in the towns.”
Zainuddin was declaring that in memory of Razak 40 years after 1976, he wants to withdraw himself and mourn the destruction of the monumental legacy left behind by a giant of a man. “In all the challenges that he faced in politics, Razak never lost his bearings, never lost his balance and reasoning, and there wasn’t even a hint of his involvement in Court cases and the like, unless they happened after his time.”
“He cannot be said to be a cheap leader, one who has lost all civilised values, one who panicked. He never dragged anyone who challenged him to Court.”
Razak, said Zainuddin in exploring the arguments further, never resorted to defamation suits like the late Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore for example. “That would have showed that he was afraid of the forces of democracy after returning the nation to that path in the wake of the 13 May 1969 race riots.”
Zainuddin hastened to add that the public perception that he was close to both Razak and Mahathir was not true. However, he would prefer to think that he felt close to them, close to their lives, having observed and understood their vision and what inspired them, and having followed their footsteps from the very beginning. Besides the book on Razak, the public perception on his relationship with the two leaders was also based on “Mahathir DiSebalik Tabir”, (The Other Side of Mahathir).
He expressed satifaction in having written the two books, the one on Razak being sponsored by the Board of the Tun Razak Trust Foundation. “There are many little known facts in these books and a lot of background which had not been disclosed previously.”
Razak appears at first hand in the book on him, said Zainuddin, especially his work ethics and his close cooperation with civil servants in bringing about organised development to backward communities. “Those who know have seen him work from morning to night, going from kampung to kampung, never tiring or bored with the people’s problems.”
Razak, said Zainuddin, built a life for the people out of sheer jungle, they went from poverty to success, their children became educated and were represented in so many of the professions.