Mahathir Mohamad's Blog, page 19

THE TRIAL OF A PRESIDENT

1. I watched on Al Jazeera the trial of President Charles Taylor of Liberia. He was accused of war crimes. He was found guilty and sentenced to 50 years jail. 2. He is 64 years old and 50 years really means a life sentence for him. The prosecution was disappointed as they [...]

EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW

1. One of the nonsense that we believe in is equality before the law. Of course this is one of the great fictions that democracy is said to uphold. But then democracy itself is often not even democratic. The people, the ordinary citizens never really govern themselves. But that is another story. 2. Now, about [...]

PENANG MALAYS

1. I was in Penang recently, having been invited to give a talk by the Penang Mubarak (Council of Former Elected Representatives). On the way to Tanjung Bungah I was surprised to see the same wooden zinc-roofed shacks, which were there 60 years ago. The difference is that they are stuck between the slender beautiful [...]

POLITIK MALAYSIA

1. Kita sudah merdeka selama 55 tahun dan telah mengadakan 12 Pilihan Raya Umum. Walaupun parti-parti bukan dari Perikatan atau Barisan Nasional telah berjaya menawan dan mendiri Kerajaan dibeberapa negeri di Semenanjung dan di Sabah, tetapi Perikatan dan Barisan Nasional tidak pernah kalah di peringkat Pusat. Perikatan dan Barisan Nasional terus menjadi Kerajaan diperingkat Pusat, [...]

LYNAS

1. I was the first to write in my blog about rare earth, about how difficult it was to rid ourselves from activated rare earth when it was no longer needed. 2. Rare earth can be used for many things and in many ways. The rare earth represented by tin tailing, mostly ilmenite, when activated [...]

PEACE AND STABILITY

1. I have often been asked by foreigners regarding Malaysia’s successful transition from an agricultural country to an industrialised country. Just as often, they wondered how a multi-racial country could stay peaceful and stable, thus enabling the transition to be made. 2. I myself did not, in pre-independence days dream that there could be stability [...]

MALAYSIA – A SMALL COUNTRY

1. Malaysia is, relatively speaking, a small country. The population is only 28 million with a per capita income of USD8,000. But many Malaysians have done very well on the world stage. They are big and often they are the biggest in the world. 2. This is especially so in business. These people make their [...]

AMERICA’S BLOCKADE OF IRAN

1. I have been criticising America’s blockade of Iran. 2. America’s action is said to be due to Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. 3. Israel has 200 nuclear warheads and obviously poses a greater threat to Iran than Iran’s threat against its neighbours. 4. Am I being unnecessarily critical of the United States? Below is part [...]

MALAYSIAN MILLIONAIRES

1. I am sorry if I angered anyone for pointing out that the millionaires (and billionaires) of Malaysia made their first million in Malaysia. I do not claim to have helped them. I accept that they did not need my help. In fact many made their pile before my time. What I was trying to [...]

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

1. Twenty years ago the Serbs of Yugoslavia began their genocidal war against the Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina. They made no attempt to hide their intention to kill all the Muslims. They openly declared they were carrying out “ethnic cleansing”. 2. Europe, according to the Europeans, is Christendom – the kingdom of the Christians. The presence [...]