Special interview with former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad
Interview with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at Yayasan Al-Bukhary, Jalan Perdana, KL. Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was asked questions on a range of issues. Here is an excerpt of the interview.
On the Malay vote.
TDM: The truth is the Malays are not very discriminating and they don’t make analysis. They don’t calculate. It is beyond them. Like the Arabs and the US. The Arabs are killing each other. To the US, that’s good. they don’t have (to kill the Arabs). To the Americans they are (the Arabs) Muslims whether they are Shiite, Sunni or Wahabbi. For the Muslims, there are the Shiite, Sunni and Wahabbi so we must fight each other. This is happening in Malaysia now, We don’t have to do anything. We want to defeat the Malays - the Malays will cause their own defeat.
On complaints that the DAP government in Penang sideline the Malays.
TDM: But we see that there are Malays who support the DAP.
On attracting the young to Umno.
TDM: They are idealistic and only want the best. But we know the world is not ideal. So they see Umno has deteriorated. So they reject. Also, Umno does not accept capable young people because they (the grassroots leaders) are insecure. They fear losing whatever that comes with the position.
You see that in the past, there were no doctors or lawyers in PAS. They all joined PAS because Umno (grassroots) rejected them. So how can they support Umno?
On the three Malay-based parties cooperating in other areas such as in educational and social programmes.
TDM: When we join a political party, we tie ourselves to that party to the point that we cannot even move. So we lose our personality. We become part of the party and become enemies with anyone who is the enemy of the party.
As for Umno-PAS enmity, it extends to marriage and death. Separate graveyards and two Imam. Our religion asks that us to be like family, to help one another. But because of politics, we cannot even mingle with each other.
On PAS and DAP disagreeing on Hudud.
TDM: When they changed from wanting to form an Islamic state and implementing Hudud to setting up a welfare state, many said this was (due to) the influence of the new leaders of PAS, the liberal and the educated. As though they defeated the ulamak. So in the newspapers were reports of this group defeating the ulamak.
I wrote in my blog that the winner is not this group but Karpal Singh because Karpal has said, any plan to set up an Islamic state will be over his dead body. But he did not have to die first for PAS to drop its plan to set up an Islamic state. Then the kampung people started talking that PAS leaders had bowed to Karpal Singh. So Nik Aziz had to resurrect it. You see, if we had not raised it, they would have let it be, quietly let it be.
PAS plays up religion, not championing the religion but plays it up for its own political interest.
On the role of Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim trying to keep the loose coalition together.
TDM: This is the Barisan Nasional concept of cooperation. When Tengku Razaleigh left Umno to form Semangat 46, he tried this. He explained to PAS and DAP, that if “you” fight each other, “they” will win. So, don’t fight and do as the BN does. Field one candidate and all three support that candidate. But as you know, Semangat 46 was not successful. When Anwar left, he brought with him the same principle. But now he can see the split.
On whether people realise that the Opposition has not delivered.
TDM: We say that but if we see from the Chinese perspective, for instance. They give their support to DAP. In Penang, the Chinese are in power. I hear in Sanah and Sarawak, they are saying, if Penang can, why can’t we? And they look at the 2008 results, they see a chance for them. they are not going to give up that chance.
On the Opposition demand for a fair and free election when in reality, their leaders - namely the DAP and PKR - are not evenly elected.
TDM: Nepotism is practised there...Wife, son, daughter.. It's just an issue to demonise the government. Nothing else. Not that they really want it. They don't even believe in free election. If they become the government, it will be worse.
For instance PAS during the elections in Kedah. They moved about 50 people from Kelantan to Kedah. We knew because there was only one address for all the 50.
On downsizing the civil service.
TDM: I would downsize the civil service but not by shrinking the civil sevice but by privatisation. The whole idea is to reduce government cost of administration. Take Telekom. When we privatize, the workers came under the new entity. That is alright. Nobody complained before. We must remember that the government has got the function of also creating jobs. We cannot say that a big size means inefficiency. Our country has grown. When we became independent, our population was five million. Now we are 28 million.
On Anwar Ibrahim’s call for a Malaysian spring.
TDM: That is his wishful thinking.
On whether Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat has overstayed his welcome as Kelantan Menteri Besar.
TDM: Yes I think he has. He doesn’t speak like he used.
On whether BN can make a comeback in Kelantan.
TDM: Yes. Only if BN knows how to counter him. He is an iconic figure for PAS. They are fanatical towards Nik Aziz. They regard him as an ulamak. Maybe so, although I doubt that but as an administrator he is destroying the state. I mean, the most intelligent Malays come from Kelantan. Here is a Malay state and it is the least developed among the states in Malaysia.
On allowing students in politics.
TDM: We want to give freedom to students. They are not children but we find that those who are active in politics are the Malay students. In the past, the demonstrations were all (participated by) Malays. We know we need educated Malays. If they deviate because of politics and their studies suffer, they would be the ones to lose and so would the Malays. I can guarantee that the Chinese will not take part in demonstrations. They would probably be there among themselves, in discussion, as usual. And if they speak at the speakers’ corner, the ones listening would be the Malays.
We are not over the hump. We are still behind, We need to catch up with people. We need to be more serious about acquiring knowledge.
Maybe, you can call me a dictator. But I was thinking in the interest of the students when I introduced AUKU (University and University Colleges Act). It is in the interest of students, especially Malays students.
On calls for sexuality rights.
TDM: We are a copycat society. Whatever the west does, we think it is right. So, if in the west, they allow same sex marriage, we should too, in order to be up-to-date. That kind of thinking to me is backward. We stand by our moral values. We cannot afford any kind of collapse in morality. In my opinion, if there is a prohibition by religion, there is a reason for that. Although it is not explained, there is a reason. If it was explained during “jahiliah” (age of ignorance), they would not have understood it.
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