For Justice, Freedom & Solidarity PP3739/12/2010(025927) ISSN 0127 - 5127 RM4.00 2010:Vol.30No.2 Aliran Monthly : Vol.30(2) Page 1 COVER STORY Mahathir: Maverick, machiavellian or merely mainstream? To the Malaysian citizen and taxpayer, this book is a sobering testament that you almost always do not get the government you deserve. by Maznah Mohamad y first reaction to the book was, how could MMM this be any different from the several oth- ers already written of the man, for example, that of Khoo Boo Teik’s Paradoxes of Mahathirism and In-Won Hwang’s Personalised Poli- tics (Not forgetting articles and commentaries gen- erated by countless number of print and virtual writ- ers before this)? After going through the first few chapters of the book I knew that this was going to be different, more impactful and more of a fine strike at the core of the matter. Mahathir has remained enigmatic and so far, seems to be unmoved by the tons of criticisms directed at him. Perhaps this was balanced by the loads of adu- lation and fawning by his coterie of loyalists, as ex- emplified by the quality of the commentators in his own blog (which could number up to a 1,000 com- ments for a single post, with most starting their ad- dress with Yang dikasihi Tun – The Most Beloved Tun). In gossip circles, Mahathir is known to have the thickest skin on the planet and is impervious to any verbal assaults on his character and his ways. People are astounded by his ability to trounce all of Retail price: his rivals and those he simply could not tolerate Malaysia RM98.80 even when he is out of power. Singapore S$49.90, including GST Aliran Monthly : Vol.30(2) Page 2 EDITOR'S NOTE Mahathir Mohamad is back in the spotlight again; notably, he was the special guest at the right wing CONTENTS group Perkasa’s inaugural AGM in March. The man is obviously not one to fade way into the sunset and has once again re-invented himself to suit the era. COVER STORY ••• Mahathir: Maverick, Machiavellian Is he a maverick, machiavellian or merely main- Or Merely Mainstream? 222 stream? That’s the question Maznah Mohamad poses in her review of Barry Wain’s book ‘Malay- sian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times’’. The book, which is still held back from FEATURES distribution in Malaysia, is a sobering testament ••• Who Are The Poor In Malaysia? 999 that Malaysians almost always do not get the gov- ••• ‘People First’ Hypocrisy 121212 ernment they deserve. ••• Make Democracy The Only Game In Town 151515 The poor especially often get a raw deal. As ••• No Wisdom In Our Judiciary - Francis Loh observes, they can be found within Not Even Common Sense 171717 every ethnic group. Thus, he says, efforts to eradi- ••• Penang Forum 2: Has Anything cate poverty should cater for all. Rani Rasiah takes up the theme by looking at the hypocrisy of Changed After Two Years? 222222 the ‘people first’ slogan in a system which ••• Jottings From Penang Forum 2 252525 squeezes low-income workers on all fronts. Low ••• ‘War On Undocumented Migrants’ wages without proper retrenchment compensa- Not The Answer 282828 tion only results in poverty, she asserts. ••• Anwar's Sodomy 1 Revisited 404040 Will political change result in radical transforma- tion? Anil Netto reports on Penang Forum 2, which REGULARS discussed to what extent the state has experienced change since the watershed 2008 general election. ••• Thinking Allowed 191919 Participants at the forum were encouraged to brain- ••• Current Concerns 292929 storm and give their views on participatory local democracy and sustainable development. Their views can be found in an accompanying piece. OTHERSOTHERSOTHERS ••• Subscription Form 383838 But before change can take place, a sense of deja vu has hit us with Anwar once again back in court. We reproduce a chilling statutory declaration from 1998 Published by by Dr Munawar Ahmad Anees, who wassubjected Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. (ALIRAN)(ALIRAN)(ALIRAN) 103, Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong, Aliran is an organisation for ‘social democratic reform’. We advocate freedom, justice and Penang, Malaysia. solidarity; comment critically on social issues, offer Tel: (04) 658 5251 Fax: (04) 658 5197 analysis and alternative ideas keeping in mind Email (Letters to Editor): the national and global picture based on universal [email protected] human rights and spiritual values. We are listed on the on the roster of the Economic and Social Council of Email (General): [email protected] the United Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran Homepage : http://www.aliran.com welcomes all Malaysians above 21 to be members. Contact the Hon. Secretary or visit our webpage. Printed by Konway Industries Sdn. Bhd. Plot 78, Lebuhraya Kampung Jawa, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang Aliran Monthly : Vol.30(2) Page 3 The party-state From 1981 till today, Mahathir has given Malaysia its particular fea- ture as a state. The most useful, if not intriguing concept that Wain has stated (just once on page 53) in describing Malaysia under Mahathir is that he had created a party-state. Hence, the useful con- tribution of the book is that it has provided much data to chart the birth of this party-state, its peak- ing and its possible eventual de- cline. Mahathir wronged by the wrong people he had chosen to be under him? This concept of the party-state, though not elaborated by Wain, Mahathir is perhaps the only per- Mohamad is a tale worth telling appears as the trademark of the son in the world who could evoke and re-telling. What I like most Mahathir-rule. Elsewhere, stud- sympathy on this by proclaiming about this book is that it just tells ies on the Kuomintang in Taiwan that he was wronged by the wrong the story as it is, rather than try to by Karl Fields have indicated the people he had chosen to be under link the episodes to some abstract blurring of the distinction be- him, from Musa Hitam to generalisation or grand theories. tween party and state as leading Abdullah Badawi. He survived at This makes the book richer be- to this particular phenomenon of least five major financial scandals cause it does not straightjacket the the party-state. This would be a and still had the audacity to rep- reader’s thinking into a particu- good time to undertake a compara- rimand his heir-apparent lar direction. The book charts the tive study of all the “party-states” Abdullah Badawi by sniping in rise of Mahathir, his stepping of Asia – Umno, KMT, LDP and one of his blog postings that down, small-steps, really because the PAP, to name the most out- Abdullah’s “Mr Clean image he was never a hair’s-breadth standing ones. meant that he had cleaned every- away from the centre of power. thing up”. I summarise Wain’s suggestion of Style of book this same phenomenon develop- The following had become stan- ing in Malaysia which quite dard facts, not just opinions — he The book is written in a breezy clearly originated from destroyed the independence of and enthralling style, at some Mahathir’s ascendance to power. the judiciary, manipulated de- parts it is almost like a political They are associated with how he mocracy and controlled the media thriller and would make great had: to his liking and is still able to say material for a film of that genre. that he had been denied his free- The most remarkable thing is that • weakened state and informal dom of expression by the it is not fiction, and were a film to institutions Abdullah government. It appears be made about Mahathir it would • packed the state bureaucracy that there is no remorse in the man, really be a case of art imitating life. with loyalists rather than tech- nothing can break him, and he nocrats remained confident right up to It is indeed an achievement that • intervened to subdue the judi- Barry Wain’s last line in the book Wain’s book manages to focus on ciary so that it would yield re- that his wrongs would some day the personal, even heart-warming sults whenever the leader or be debunked. sides of Mahathir, the family the party’s political control is man, but ends up as a powerful endangered. For those reasons above Mahathir treatise of the public Malaysia. • downgraded the status of the Aliran Monthly : Vol.30(2) Page 4 MCA and the MIC, his throne. There were talks which were coalition that the King was involved party stalwarts of in the murder of his caddy, equal standing with and was about to be de- Umno before this. throned by his fellow • blended and merged brother-rulers (The Council Mahathir the of Rulers). strongman with Ma- laysia the rising Allegations of the killing middle-power state. of a caddy seemed to have been verified by both Malaysia was nothing Mahathir and Anwar in but Mahathir, but Wain’s interviews with Mahathir was larger them. These are men- than Malaysia. Not that tioned in Chapter 3, page he is unaware of this 73. view as lately he had be- come quite defensive of I must also add that his actions. In one of the Mahathir would not have more recent blog entries, succeeded in saving him- he declared, “Thank you self if not for the MCA, al- for agreeing that I am a Tun Salleh Abas, the Lord President, was sacked on though this was not noted dictator. Tell me which 8-8-19888-8-19888-8-1988 in the book.