Mahathir Mohamad's Blog, page 12

WATER FOR SINGAPORE

1. I would like to thank the visitor to my blog who pointed out that the terms of the agreement to supply raw water and receive treated water to and from Singapore actually favours Malaysia.I agree.But I am talking about revision in the price of raw water since 3 sen per 1000 gallons is ridiculous today.It would be even more ridiculous in the decades to come.Hence, the need to renegotiate.According to the present agreement, if Malaysia sells 1,000,000 of raw water it should be paid 3,000 sen...

Water For Singapore

Water For Singapore

1. I would like to thank the visitor to my blog who pointed out that the terms of the agreement to supply raw water and receive treated water to and from Singapore actually favours Malaysia.I agree.But I am talking about revision in the price of raw water since 3 sen per 1000 gallons is ridiculous today.It would be even more ridiculous in the decades to come.Hence, the need to renegotiate.According to the present agreement, if Malaysia sells 1,000,000 of raw water it should...

THE TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP

An edited version of this article appeared in the New Straits Times of July 12, 2013

1. The secretary to the Ministry of Trade and Industry avers that trade negations must be done in secret, I suppose by the officers concerned. There should apparently be no public debate or even within the Government.

2. I don’t think it is such a good practice, if indeed that is the practice. Let us see the record of trade and other agreements negotiated by the Malaysian Government. They do not seem to favour...

RACIAL POLARIZATION

1. After Parliament was dissolved on the 13th April 2013, I was interviewed by a BBC journalist. He appeared quite convinced that race-based parties such as those in the National Front would be rejected by a more liberal electorate which believes in democracy, freedom and non-racial politics. Also the idealistic young would reject the BN.

2. I had to disagree with him as I believed that racial polarization in Malaysia had become more pronounced now than ever before. I may not always be right b...

UMNO DAHULU DAN SEKARANG

1. Pada 11hb. Mei 2013, UMNO merayakan hari penubuhannya yang ke 63 dengan sembahyang dan tahlil, ucapan bersemangat dari Presiden Najib Tun Razak dan majlis makan malam. Tetapi UMNO pada 2013 ini bukanlah sama dengan UMNO 1946.

2. Pada 1946, pengasas UMNO yang berkumpul di Johor Baru bersemangat untuk menyelamatkan bangsa Melayu dari kehilangan bangsa mereka, dari kehilangan tanahair mereka, dari menjadi rakyat sebuah tanah jajahan British dan hilangnya Melayu di dunia.

3. Perjuangan pemimpin...

BRINGING DOWN GOVERNMENTS

BRINGING DOWN GOVERNMENTS

1. Street demonstrations can bring down Governments. This we know from the Arab Spring. But we should also know that setting up a new Government to replace the old Government is not as easy.

2. There will always be people who will not agree with the new Government, no matter if the Government is democratically elected or not. The losers in the bid for power will always accuse the winners of cheating and frauds of all kinds. They will demand for new elections, or a re-c...

SHARING

This article appeared in the New Straits Times of April 30, 2013

1. Malaysia has enjoyed more than half a century of peace and stability and high growths under BN coalition Governments. The seizure of power by the Malay majority upon independence as predicted by foreign observers and some locals did not happen.

2. Instead under the Tunku they promoted a sharing of power and wealth between the three major races through a coalition, the Alliance. The Alliance won 51 out of 52 of the 98 Federal L...

LIBEL

This article appeared in the New Straits Times of April 28, 2013


1. The DAP’s Kit Siang has learnt a lot from Anwar Ibrahim, the PKR leader. When unable to counter a critic, silence him by threatening to take libel action in court if the statement is not withdrawn. A long drawn hearing in the court with many postponements, will relieve Kit Siang from having to answer his critic.

2. Now he wants to sue me for calling him a racist. I have been called a racist and an ultra hundreds of times. I ne...

THE POLITICS OF RACE

This article appeared in the New Straits Times of April 25, 2013
1. In Malaysia there is not a single political party which can claim to be truly multiracial. All of them are strongly dominated by one race or another.

2. The only party which is nearest to being multi-racial is the National Front. Although it is a coalition of parties but it functions as a single party with every race in Malaysia represented equally in its central council irrespective of the size of the component. In addition th...

GELANG PATAH

1. Kit Siang is going to contest in Gelang Patah.

2. Why Gelang Patah?

3. Obviously it is because Gelang Patah has a Chinese majority.

4. Obviously Kit Siang is going to play on Chinese sentiments.

5. Johore has been an Alliance/Barisan Nasional stronghold ever since independence. The three races there have been supporting each other in elections. They do not have strong racist feelings.

6. But Kit Siang is going to bring about conflict and antagonism between the races, to wage the Chinese to disl...