I WANT to focus on the key political figures etched in my memory since adolescence. Malaysian politics often features peculiar characters — some ugly but endearing, others arrogant.
However, they fade into obscurity once out of power. Let's explore the key politicians who, for someone of my age, born in 1976, played crucial roles.
My father, who is two years older than Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, often spoke of Tun Abdul Razak Hussein as a brilliant man.
Even towards the end of his life, my dad would remind me of how Razak transformed the fate of Malays through the New Economic Policy, in stark contrast to his opinion of Dr Mahathir — "that boy, one disaster after another".
It's amusing: the age difference allowed him to refer to Dr Mahathir as a boy. I grew up witnessing the country prosper from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. Recession or depression was not on anyone's lips. Instead, discussions revolved around the Thomas Cup.
Notwithstanding the point above, I am not an ardent supporter of Dr Mahathir. I'm merely stating the obvious — we couldn't talk about bad things openly in a previous era.
Fast-forward to the late 1990s, and I found myself in my prime, much like the country. Tired of autocratic leaders, we, the 20-somethings, yearned for change. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, now PMX, emerged as a beacon of hope.
The news of Anwar's dismissal in 1998 marked the beginning of a new era. I was excited, pumped up for the new hero, Anwar.
Little did I know that Dr Mahathir and Anwar's love-hate relationship would resemble a rollercoaster ride for the next 20 years.
In 1999 in the United Kingdom, amid signing petition after petition for Anwar's release, I heard about a bold question a student in London posed to Dr Mahathir: "When are you stepping down?" Rumour had it the young man was Khairy Jamaluddin.
Regardless of the truth of the story, what's noteworthy was the rise of a new figure, not from the political or royal elite, but the son of a diplomat — Khairy.
Khairy, or KJ, didn't immediately enter the main arena. But he climbed up fast. No one can deny that he fought the son of Goliath in the Umno Youth head election and emerged victorious.
Can one say he is not capable of becoming prime minister? The answer mirrors the uncertainty faced by Anwar and Dr Mahathir.
Now, let me clarify the title of this piece. 'Trinity' in this context has no religious connotation. I thought of it while listening to a podcast.
It is about the connection between three people. Please spare me the religious bashing: I am a Malay Muslim.
If we analyse the struggles of the three individuals when they were in their late 40s, we see a common thread — their fight against the same party, Umno, which they had chosen as the platform for their Malay agenda.
Although associated with a radical Malay party, aren't they the most accepted Malay leaders among non-Malay voters?
As a scientist, I attempted to find the relationship between all three and spell it out algorithmically.
Dr Mahathir is the furthest right politically, Anwar is a reformist on the far left, and KJ sits somewhere in the middle. But who would choose to be the three most iconic leaders expelled from Umno?
If Dr Mahathir wielded the weapon of the 'Malay Dilemma', and Anwar crashed the gates of power with a street-fighting reform agenda, the obvious artillery that KJ is building is through 'Keluar Sekejap'.
It's time to remind my son that KJ completes the trinity of Malay politics in my lifetime.
* The writer is a scientist who loves political gossiping