ItI is a tr$y unique legacy &7- 2 9 OCT I OUGHT to keep the record straight for posterity. How did Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir ?rJohamad manage to attain ON THE RECORD I the premiership and stay for so long, despite all odds. numerous plots and ByAbdullah Ahmad rumours of them against him? I was the lone witness when the three vice-presidents of Umno - (now Tun )+ Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Dr Mahathir, Ghafar and Tengku Hamzah. and J>r AJahnthir iI believe a Tun Razaleigh reinforced the tradition that on Friday: congratulations on being only elected vice-presidents of Umno conferred the senior order bestowed onTun would be potential prime ministers for as Razak, the Scri Mahkota Negara) met one long as Umno rules . Dr Ma- evening in early March 1976 at Tengku hathir was made a king, not born one. If one Rnznleigh’s penthouse in Bank Bumiputra, is not born a king and would Iike to be one, ,Jalan Melaka inow the Tas building). then he should heed the advice Dr I had al~vays been their friend, besides Mahathir gave while he was Education being Tun Razak’s political adviser and a Ministerin 1975,ayearbeforehewasmade member of the Umno Supreme Council. I deputy king: “No shortcut to the top.” had campaigned hard for them (throwing Dr Mahathir became a minister oqly Tun Razak’s name in for good measure; of after having been in the party for 28 years, course. with his permission) to defeat five was expelled and readmitted and then other candidates for the vice-presidencies spent 29 years in the Cabinet, the last 22 of Umno at the June 21. 1975 Umno su- at its head. preme council election. Did Tun Razak want him to be his Tun Raznk was pleased with the re- eventual successor? Yes. He confided to sults bccnuse he did not want others to me the names of three probable successors win, especially Datuk Harun Idris, who and Dr Mahathir topped the list. And came in fourth with 427 votes and Tan Sri when Hussein asked me confidentially Throughout Dr Mahathir’s premiership, each year has brought a little more to the table at buku puasa (ifiw in Arabic), a little more to be thankful for. Over the span of his 22 years, it has amounted to quite a feast. Equivalently, the menu of honours one can call on to commemorate him resembles a banquet.

Syed Jafar Albar, who was fifth with 374. whom Tun Razak would have made his The other one he absolutely did not want deputy if Hussein had died instead of was Tan Sri , but there was him, I said Tun Razak’sfirst choicewould no worry about him for he was a non-starter, have beenDr Mahathir. polling only 106 votes out of 1,080. Dr Ramadan is a time of remembrance, Mahathir had won 474 votes. gratitude and well-being sharpened by Datuk , the Deputy Prime hunger and self-denial. Throughout Dr Minister who suddenly became PM upon Mahathir’s premiership, each year has Tun Razak’s unexpected death on Feb 14, brought a little more to the table at buha 1976. wanted the hugely unpopular puasa (iftar in Arabic), a little more to be thankful for. Over the span of his 22 years, it has amounted to quite a feast. The handover this Equivalently, the menu of honours one can call on to commemoratehim resem- Friday wijl be the last blesa banquet. of Dr Mahathir’s many Some will take a small tidbit, such as Raewynn and Raenette Tan who e-mailed bequests to Malaysia, me on Monday: “We were not even born a true parting gift after when Dr Mahathir becamePrime Min- ister, but he brought all Malaysians to- a long run of able gether when, soonafter, he synchronised the times of West and East Malaysia.” leadership. Among And so it goes:He has touched the hearts many other of so many people that his imminent re- tirement has evoked platitudes as well as endowments, Dr poetry. Mahathir will leave an But for me, Ramadan intrudes. In his last week in office, the words of eloquent economy expected to praise I have kept dammed in my head grow by close to five for many months are tugged down by t,he growlingsof an empty stomach. per cent this year, I have no doubt that that is the way he with the 1997-98 prefers it. If there is anything that con- joins Dr Mahathir’s friends and foes in Asian financial crisis honest salutation, it is in their admission that they will miss him. There won’t be well behind it. any big send-offs,no glittering valediction to throw what comesafter in the shade. By the grace of Allah, this fasting Ghazali, Home Minister and last of the month has provided a spiritual dimension seven candidates for vice-president, to be to the culmination of, I dare say, the his deputy. One or two foreign leaders smoothest leadership transition in the dropped by in to boost country’s history. Ghazali’s chances. One was Ali Murtopo, Quite apart from the humility de- Suharto’s intelligence chief, a crony of mandedof Holy Ramadan,an untroubled Ghnzali’s and one of the Indonesians who changeat the top must never be taken for negotiated the end of the Konfrontasi with granted. A lot of history has been made Malaysia. and unmade, and wars fought, over suc- The three vice-presidentsgave Hussein cessionissues. This is why departure is an emphatic “no”. actually an ultimatum always a quandary. that either one of them be elevated or Leaders can’t go while they are too far none would serve in Hussein’s Cabinet. ahead nor when they are too far behind. The shocked Hussein,though very reluc- So they often leave it to fate, to Hamlet’s tantly, chose Dr Mahathir, the only good slingsand arrows of outrageousfortune. d(xrisionhe clvor made as Prime Minister. Like comedy, political decisionsare a for which I will always thank him. matter of timing. But it is hard to judge the moment to end the show, even harder joke about it would agree that the epitaph when it has been successful. Dr Mahathir of his extended leadership can be found in had been at a loss too, deciding in June last the chorus of Frank Sinatra’s My Way year to let the curtains fall as they may. He which he occasionally sings at parties to was persuaded to stay on and preside over the great amusement of the guests. The a most unruffled transfer ofpower to Datuk Prime Minister may be known for his Seri . protean pragmatism, but underneath it is The handover this Friday will be the last an inflexible principle: never compromise of Dr Mahathir’s many bequests to your independence; never let anything get Malaysia, a true parting gift after a long in the way of your wisdom to act for your run of able leadership. It is not enough for own betterment. a leader merely to anoint an heir. He must To get this across, he was prepared to be leave a realm worthy of his life and work. “nasty”. He has berated the Europeans, People, as opposed to historians, will Americans, Muslims and, perhaps most of remember him most vividly by the last all, the Malays for still banking on the thing he did. Among many other en- depleted currency of traditional modes of dowments, Dr Mahathir will leave an thought. economy expected to grow by close to live Dr Mahathir spent the last month per cent this year, with the 1997-98 putting the finishing touches to what the Asian financial crisis well behind it. advertising industry would call Malaysia’s The Prime Minister’s great service to positioning in a crowded world where the country in the last phase of his tenure small countries are left at a persistent was not just in lifting the economy out of disadvantage. That position depends on disaster but in how he did it. He had how we leverage ourselves to punch above staked a lot of political capital on the our weight. In 22 years, what he has cre- wager that this nation of ours possessed ated above all is a voice - he has turned the beans and the mettle to act indepen- Malaysia into a mouse that roared. dently in its ownpest interests. In Ramadan, when the light of Allah It brought him into loggerheads with shines brightest, I prefer not to think of Dr many, including some in the Cabinet, who Mahathir in terms of the stuff that will go had advocated the International Monetary into the history books. He will remain in

Dr Mahathir always sticks to his own doctrines of public service and national sovereignty. He will say what needs to be said and, taking the evidence of his career as a whole, I think it seems Likely that he will be willing to repeat what he believes in with equal force even on Judgement Day.

Fund’s austerity programme. The Cabinet our memory if we continue to care what was persuaded to back him after three he thinks of us. lengthy meetings. He has taught us to rise above our- To someone who embodies the pride ofhis selves, to value friendship, sincerity and country in his own person, being told by an loyalty, to always do good and, while we’re outsider what was good for Malaysia at a at it, to take no nonsense from those who time of need was, and always will be, ana- presume to know better. No finer homage thema. Dr Mahathir of course won the bet. can be paid to a great leader than if he He stopped the free fall of the ringgit by gives us pause to ask ourselves if we have pegging it to the US dollar and imposed measured up. controls to keep capital from fleeing the In politics, I have learnt that ability is country. The IMF prescribed for the secondary. Acceptability, loyalty and, of economy to bit rock bottom before it could course, timing are crucial. Winning elec- be set for growth again. Not surprisingly, in tions isn’t primary because there is always Thailand and Indonesia, IMF-imposed the Senate to go to. policies caused untold hardship and People continually ask me how strong brought down governments. Perhaps a Dr Mahathir is compared with Tengku change to a more amenable leadership was Abdul Rahman Putra or Tun Razak. I the hidden aim of the IMF in Malaysia. always say, Dr Mahathir is as strong as Last month, IMF chief Horst Koehler his party, Cabinet, his informal advisers conceded during a visit to Kuala Lumpur and inner circle allow him to be. that Dr Mahathir had been right. “With Dr Mahathir always sticks to his own hindsight, we have to recognise the good doctrines of public service and national performance of the economy Mahathir sovereignty. He will say what needs to be was right,” he said. Against this succinct said and taking the evidence ofhis career as validation of Dr Mahathir’s rescue of the a whole, I think it seems likely that he will country, all other effusive tributes pale. be willing to repeat what he believes in with Those who know him well enough to equal force even on Judgement Day.