COMMENT The advocacy and participation of Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the recently-concluded Bersih 5 was a moment for the Malaysian history books.

Once a huge detractor of street rallies - deeming them as undemocratic and unlawful, he took to the streets during Bersih 5, urging the removal of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The detention of Maria Chin Abdullah under Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) on the eve of the rally was highly condemned by Mahathir. Attending the candlelight vigil at Dataran Merdeka, he chanted “Bebas Maria” in a show of solidarity and support.

Perhaps the fact that he had Yunus Ali, Maria’s husband, arrested and detained under Internal Security Act (ISA) during 'Operasi Lalang' had become a thing of the distant past in his mind. The current administration’s treatment of Maria, who posed no threat whatsoever to national security, was no different from Mahathir’s treatment of the people he had arrested in 1987.

The irony would be funny, if it wasn’t painful.

I was an admirer of Mahathir. To be honest, perhaps the word “admirer” is actually an understatement. Mahathir was my hero, my idol, my aspiration to be a better person and to perform great deeds.

To the young teenager I was then, whose only source of information came from the mainstream media, Mahathir cut across as a powerful and brilliant leader, stamping his authority in the arena of world politics.

I saw him as the integral figure in advancing Malaysia’s economy, by shifting the country’s economy away from the agriculture and natural resources sector, and towards manufacturing and exporting.

The KL International Airport and the Petronas Twin Towers were built during his administration, putting Malaysia on the map as a rising economic power on its way to greatness.

I marvelled at Mahathir’s disdain for the Western/Anglo-Saxon powers, I cheered at his refusal to submit to the International Monetary Fund during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. I deemed him a hero when he pegged the ringgit against the US dollar, and was convinced that the strict capital controls he introduced were for the good of the country.

And of course, I believed everything Mahathir said about his then-deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, and I believed every single accusation laid against Anwar - corruption, sodomy, everything.

I spent my teenage years worshiping Mahathir, due to my own lack of knowledge, and my inability to rationalise beyond what I have been told. The country’s mainstream media was - and still is - an effective propaganda machine for the government, and I did not realise how severe was the crackdown against opposing views...