Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad certainly has a short memory. Many years ago he remarked that “Chinese are the Masters of Malaysia”.
That had, of course, drawn a strong rebuke from many Chinese.
The attack was unjustified as Dr Mahathir must have forgotten that it was the Chinese who saved him in the 1999 General Election when Malays deserted him over how he mistreated Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, once his chosen successor.
Dr Mahathir then realised he had overstayed his welcome and in 2002, he stage-managed his exit by pretending he was retiring, rather than be booted out by the party he led.
He did hand over power to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but then, picked a fight with him. The man had to go, only to be replaced by Dr Mahathir’s favourite, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
And now, he is determined to get rid of Najib and oust the BN government in next month’s general election.
In short, he has picked a fight with all prime ministers save for Najib’s father Tun Abdul Razak Hussein. He waited for Razak’s son to become prime minister to engage in a war.
Back to the Chinese voters, Dr Mahathir’s strange alliance with DAP must have cost the latter some Chinese votes.
The Chinese will not easily forget what Dr Mahathir had done and said to them.
According to political commentators, DAP helped the opposition sweep 80 per cent of Chinese votes in the last two GEs. In the upcoming GE, that might not be the case.
One estimate suggests a loss of between five and 10 per cent of Chinese votes by Pakatan, whose chairman is Dr Mahathir.
Dr Mahathir was prime minister for 22 years and retired in 2003.
Some of these votes may go back to BN and help lift its popular vote. But they may not be enough to ensure an outright victory for BN in some marginal seats, the commentators said.
Some who don’t like Dr Mahathir may choose to spoil their votes or not vote at all.
Young Chinese voters, who have no affinity at all for Dr Mahathir during his 22-year rule, may go for issues other than him.
Generally, Chinese voters are divided about Dr Mahathir.
But by having Dr Mahathir lead Pakatan, DAP may also be seen as taking the Chinese votes for granted.
For Chinese voters, two issues are dear to them: Chinese education and business.
In the late 1990s, the Chinese business community, like other domestic business communities, was initially alarmed at Dr Mahathir’s anti-market rhetoric stance, but was gradually reassured by the capital controls and a tentative export-led recovery in late 1999.
Politically, the Chinese community, for whom nothing could be more threatening than the anti-Chinese violence in Indonesia, found double solace before Reformasi began; they were not only safe in Malaysia; their home even served as a sanctuary for many Chinese, who fled the violence of May 1998 in Indonesia.
Chinese voters make up 29.68 per cent of the voting population.
Many Chinese are still sore about the abuse of security laws to clamp down on human rights, such as the Op Lalang episode in the late 1980s, and the Bank Negara forex scandal in the early 1990s.
Another issue was Dr Mahathir’s likening of the Chinese to “communists” and “extremists” when rejecting a 17-point memorandum submitted by Chinese civil society umbrella group, Suqiu, before the 1999 election.
Representing more than 2,000 groups, Suqiu made a number of election demands, which, Dr Mahathir said would have undone Malaysia’s social contract and Constitution that allowed special privileges for Malays.
Dr Mahathir initially pretended to support the appeal and won the general election with the support of Chinese guilds and associations. But he made a denial after the election and lambasted the Chinese campaign, comparing the promoters with the communists and Al-Ma’unah extremists.
Again, Dr Mahathir’s constant U-turns and policy flip-flops may not attract many voters to his side.
In the 1999 general election, the last polls that he led before quitting, Dr Mahathir called the BN manifesto a promise which the government could fulfil and that it was not just to fish for votes.
The then prime minister said that the manifesto of the opposition parties made better promises because they knew that they would not form the government and, therefore, did not have to keep their promises.
“We don’t make a promise to make everyone a millionaire, that when we form a government, we will give pension and allowance to everyone, roads paved with gold. We don’t make such promises like the opposition parties,” he said.
Even in its current manifesto, Pakatan has backtracked a few times.
It recently clarified that it will not abolish tolls altogether if it takes over Putrajaya, promising instead to end toll charges nationwide in stages.
Well, that’s Dr Mahathir.
A veteran newsman, A Jalil Hamid believes that a good journalist should be curious and sceptical at the same time.