By Karamjit Gill
Watching Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Lim Kit Siang sharing screen space reminds me of the World Wrestling Entertainment. Two wrestlers can be sworn enemies tearing each other apart for months and suddenly become best friends, even to the extent of becoming tag team partners. It is all too melodramatic.
In the last general election, Mahathir urged the people of Gelang Patah to end Lim’s political career. He mocked Lim by saying Malaysia had had six prime ministers thus far but DAP had been led by the same person the whole time.
In response, Lim challenged Mahathir to stand against him in the election and to see whose political career would come to an end. Lim then alleged that Mahathir was the de facto prime minister because Najib Razak sang to Mahathir’s tune. He claimed that Mahathir would go against anybody who did not listen to him, citing Abdullah Badawi as an example.
Only five years later, they are walking together hand in hand. Perhaps it is time to end the political careers of both chameleons. Mahathir has admitted that his stand against DAP throughout his career was politically motivated as DAP was then his enemy.
He also said all the things said against him were just “politics” and that nothing was really true. So, these people took the whole country for a ride for decades and only spoke against each other to stay in power?
Shouldn’t somebody be held accountable for such deceit? Shouldn’t Mahathir’s ‘chedet’ blog be called an archive of fiction? If this happened in a developed nation, citizens would have driven Mahathir to court by now over the decades of lies and hoodwinking.
Only in Malaysia, which boasts a third world mentality, do people turn a blind eye to bring the conniving veteran back to the helm.
Penang Deputy Chief Minister R Ramasamy’s acceptance of Hindraf is another example of hypocrisy. In a recent article, he mentioned how some DAP leaders were against Hindraf joining Pakatan Harapan (PH). But since Mahathir accepted Hindraf, things are all good and the sins have been banished. It is mind-boggling how Ramasamy says the past is the past when it involves PH, but keeps bringing up Samy Vellu’s name as a reason to reject MIC.
Comments pour in against me when I speak about Mahathir’s recent disparaging racial remarks. One-eyed opposition supporters bring up the “Chinese tsunami” and “keris” incidents, but at the very next moment, they say we shouldn’t speak about Mahathir’s past.
The late Karpal Singh fought for truth and righteousness. Even after his untimely death, Gobind Singh Deo has continued to march forward. However, since Mahathir joined PH, Gobind has been relatively silent.
Is it because he is disgusted with the current politics of PH? The torment the late Tiger of Jelutong underwent is certainly not what Mahathir calls “just politics”.
When Mahathir can cheat the nation for decades to hold on to power, is there any guarantee he isn’t doing the same to wield control over our future? Will the Lim Kit Siang-Mahathir Mohamad drama suffer the same fate as the DAP-PAS soap opera prior to GE13?
With daily revelations of hypocrisy, Malaysia is not going to change, no matter who governs.
Karamjit Gill is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.