'Mahathir is using the same racist strategy to influence the present leadership to enable it to win the next elections and thus escape being brought to justice by Pakatan.'
Tkc: "He rubbished claims that the NEP's affirmative-action policies had stunted the country's progress, stressing that Malaysia had recorded higher growths than other developing countries".
Which other developing countries? Zimbabwe, Burma or Somalia? To counter your argument, our neighbouring countries do not have NEP. Yet they are prospering and attracting valuable FDIs whereas Malaysia continues to slide backwards. What is wrong with that picture?
Avatar: As far as we know, Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the de facto PM of Malaysia. He is the puppet master behind the PM, so all this talk of giving his opinion is a good ‘sandiwara' (shadow play) to ‘blind' the people of Malaysia.
If the PM rejects his suggestions, then his ‘bouncer', Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali, will come out to make a commotion.
Ng Seng Tong: Mahathir claims that Malaysia had recorded highest growth earlier than the other developing countries due to affirmative-action policies.
Yes, affirmative policies are good for short-term but not sustainable over the long haul. As a proof, over a passage of time these developing countries are now ahead of Malaysia, growing at a faster rate.
Another test is this: randomly choose a group of people who have benefitted from affirmative-action policies and pit them against people who have been chosen from meritocracy policies in any given field. Generally, the outcome is predictable.
My dear bumi friends and fellow citizens, the world is a global village and if you want to 'cari makan' in this world, which is getting more competitive by the day (and the government is not able to protect you forever), discard and reject the temptation for short-term gains for your own sake and your generations to come.
Kazakh: High GDP growth rate is meaningless if it does not generate higher income for the masses.
Yes, Malaysia has very good GDP but most of its income growth has gone into the pockets of the super-rich Umno/BN cronies and crumbs to the second and bottom liners - the ordinary hard-pressed rakyat.
Tun, about your claims on the rising support of Malays for the Malay NGOs such as Perkasa - maybe you should make a trip like PM Najib Razak to see the Felda settlers. I am sure they would love to give you a piece of their mind.
I wonder why Perkasa is so quite when the judges ruled that Felda had been cheating Malay settlers . ‘Melayu tipu Melayu'.
Pemerhati: Mahathir played the race card and became PM. He and his BN colleagues and cronies plundered the country and destroyed the important institutions. His billionaire children and his other billionaire cronies and colleagues (eg, Abdul Taib Mahmud of Sarawak) are testimony to the extent of the plunder.
Now he is using the same racist strategy to influence the present leadership to enable it to win the next elections and thus escape being brought to justice by Pakatan Rakyat. Mahathir's sidelining of meritocracy and promotion of racism resulted in a sharp drop of standards in the education system and consequently in the professions and the public service.
As such, we have sub-standard professionals like lawyer Abdul Razak Musa of MACC and racist head teachers like those in Kedah and Johor holding top positions in the government. The biggest losers are the majority Malays because they get low-quality service, unlike the Umnoputras, who use foreign-trained professionals, doctors and teachers for their families.
John 8:32: TDM (Tun Dr Mahathir) has no more creditabilty to speak. He had 22 years to do good and had his chance. He built the hardware - Twin Towers - but destroyed the software - judiciary, police, education, MACC civil service, etc.
Racial and religious tolerance got from bad to worse after he declared Malaysia an Islamic state. In his 22 years, countries like Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and his No 1 enemy, Singapore, have overtaken us.
He has also made his son the top 10 richest men in Malaysia.
Swipenter: TDM should had a earful for himself. After 22 years, we are way behind our contemporaries like Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan.
Of course, we are better off than Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines but not for long. The first three were devastated by war and the last four were mired in corruption and bad governance. But now they are snapping at our heels.
Multi Racial: We have had enough of his (Mahathir's) ideas and many brought pain and damage to this country. The country would like to move on to the post-Mahathir era, and hopefully after the next general election, the post-BN and Umno era.
Equinox: The best way to react to TDM is to completely ignore him. He had his chance to leave behind a memorable legacy, but he blew it because he did untold damage to the country's institutions like the courts, the police force and most important of all, the inter-ethnic harmony that could have advanced further had he not harped on race whenever he opened his mouth.
He wanted Malaysia to become a developed country by 2020, but he forgot that putting skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur will not bring the developed status if our law-and-order institutions are not much better than that of Zimbabwe.
Some years ago, I was over the moon when I read his ‘The Way Forward' expounding his 2020 vision. Now I realise that someone must have written it for him and what he has done is miles off that vision.
Cala: Mahathir has erred in two areas. First, if Malaysia is compared with Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia in terms of GDP per capita, it would appear that it has done reasonably well.
In GDP per capita for 2007: Malaysia (US$4,715); Thailand (US$2,713); Philippines (US$1,216); and Indonesia (US$1,034) (Source: World Bank as quoted in Dowling and Valenzuela, 2010, p.5). But Najib is talking about striving for a high- income status for Malaysia by 2015,thereby raising the GNI per capita to US$12,139 in 2015, from the current US$8,256 (10th Malaysia Plan, p. 54). So I find that MM has a lower vision.
Second, Mahathir must bear in mind that as expected, economic development is capitalism in disguise. As always the working class would be exploited by the capitalists. Hence to assume that all citizenry (be they Malays, Chinese, or the Indians) would benefit from economic development is foolhardy.
Bujang Senang: I used to have a lot of respect and honour for Mahathir, and I believe many Malaysians did so too. If only Mahathir continued to maintain his statesmanship after retirement, he would be held in high esteem and honour by all Malaysians. Putrajaya and KLIA would be named after him and we would applaud.
He has sadly allowed himself to be tempted to play gutter racist politics. But there is a small deserted cafe in Langkawi -.if you visit Langkawi, please support for old times' sake.
Malaysians Are Not Stupid: Now you know why his sons are among the riches in Malaysia. Ask him how and I'm sure he will say it is due to their own ability (meritocracy). My foot is already laughing.
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