6/16/2009
No he won't shut up
On the tail end of the LKY tour of Malaysia, Mahathir had to let go his pent up feelings. He left it to the last day, a courtesy, or knowing that LKY did not have time for him? He harped on the perpetual issues of Malays losing out, of selling water cheaply to Singapore and how important Singapore has become. He will never die in peace if he cannot get these issues out of his system. It must be very painful to him.
Were his fears real or imagination? Every country will strategise their policies with themselves as the centre of the universe. Is that anything new? As for selling untreated water to Singapore at 3 sen, he did not comment that Singapore sold treated water to Johore at a special price in return. Changing one will have to change the other.
And the Iskander project, other than the fears of bumiputras being marginalised in their own country, think deeply, is it possible in today's context? This was possible in the pre independence days of colonialism. Today the bumiputras are in control of the country. There are their own masters.
And from the economic point of view, if Malaysia cannot remove the blinkers and think that foreign investors will go there, throw their money in and leave everything to the Malaysians, without leaving any traces of their presence, they can give up their dreams of attractive foreign funds.
When foreign investors came, they will bring everything, money and their culture and presence. And they want to make profits out of their investments. And Malaysia would naturally want to benefit from their presence. But Malaysia cannot blame the foreign investors for raising the cost of living, fighting for all the space and services, buying up their properties etc etc. These are part and parcel of the bargain.
There will be more Singaporean cars and Singaporeans all over Malaysia if they want to promote tourism. And there will be more jams and ugly Singaporeans. If that is something they did not want to see, then it is better to close the door.
Malaysia will now have to reassess its position without the fears and threats of a Mahathir mindset. To move forward and embrace the world, or to remain as a kampong?
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17 comments:
In my comments under "The Changing Colours of Malaysia", I predicted he would do what he is doing now........shoot his big mouth through the roof and act like a woman scorned. Well, he is right in at least one thing. He is now a "nobody" and our MM has a very tight schedule so why meet someone whose mouth is controlled wholly by his ego and faster than his brain.
I never liked him. He got me CLOBberred. Western politicians retire quietly and gracefully after their job is done. Third world politicians doesn't really retire. They rant and they rave like a Mad Hatter until they are called to register for the next trip on the Enterprise going to the parallel universe.
he clobbered many singaporeans and malaysians as well. trillions were lost when clob was terminated from our exchange.
Don't blame Dr M for having clobbered you, Wally. Did he point a gun at you and ask you to invest in CLOB. Fact is CLOB was never recognised as a legitimate exchange by Malaysia. They had kpkb numerous times over the years that it operated. For an astute investor liek you, you should have seen the writing on the wall.
And redbean, you do not understand the mindset of the Malay. Take it from a Chinese Malaysian like me, the Malays would rather go back to living in attap huts than give up their land and rights. I have no doubt in my mind what the choice will be.
Some Singaporeans seem to know Malaysians better than the Malaysians themselves.
Embrace the world. yeah right. That's what LKY and his goons did to Singapore and look at the mess it's caused. High cost of living, infested with foreign trash bringing with them their alien norms and culture. If I am a Malaysian, I would tell the old man thanks, but no thanks. Malaysia may not be as globalised as Singapore is but it is by no stretch of the imagination a kampong. I think they have managed to get the balance right between progress and maintaining its old charm. Singapore style globalisation is not suitable for it.
actually you are damn right. malaysia is a blessed country, with abundance of resources. it should look at its own development model and ask itself how far or how fast it wants to go. what is progress is subjective.
like the australians, there is no need to enter the rat race and get everyone work to death. singaporeans may be materially rich but the quality of life in other areas may be unhealthy and pathetic. too many artificiality and commercialised 'good stuff'.
malaysians can afford to slow down a little, even work for 4/5 days a week and enjoy life. the singaporean model of survival may not be appropriate to the malaysians. malaysia should capitalise on its strength and carve out its own path.
hi dotmy, didn't hear from you for a while.
and hi Alfred Hitler. same as Arthur Hitler? welcome anyway.
Yo redbean. i ahve been lurking on your blog but there were no interesting posts to comment. Most of your previous ones about AWARE, NKF, high cost of living, foreign talents are not relevant to me anymore since I no longer live in sg. But posts about my country of birth is always relevant. Look Malaysia may not be the best country in the world to live in, but it is still my country no matter what. One more thing to note is that the discrimination and NEP and all those race issues are a government problem. For me, governemnt is distinct from country. Some anti-pap Singaporeans seem to be unable to make that same distinction wrt to their country cos I always hear of them referring to Singapore by such unsavoury names like Peesaipore, Sinkapoor, Singabloodypore etc. I would never do that to my own country, no matter how bad the government may treat me.
well,Singapore and Malaysia are like siblings who have petty quarrel every other day. But bear in mind that both countries have many relatives across the Causeway. Govt are politic and they stay that way. I agree with dotmy, we do hear some people referring to Singapore by 'unsavoury' names. But they may not be 'Singaporean'.. who knows? It's hard to contest. Never do that to your own country? good for you.
I like Dr M when he "let's fly". It's inspiring! (and entertaining)
Someone commented on this man's blog thus:
"Dr. Mahathir, your influence should not be just on Malaysia, right? We look forward to your Mahathir's lectures on Singapore."
Please let me know when the lecture is going to take place so that I can train my throat for a good loud "Boo!"
Wonder what the average Malaysian think of the Singapore Minister Mentor ?
Do they care about him at all ?
Many Singaporeans are very envious of Dr Mahathir or so it seems. Is it respect, reverrence or awe ? ? ?
Hard to forget a great man.
Wally Buffet, if you really think that Dr Mahathir is a "nobody", you would not even have commented about him. According to you, you even went to the extent of predicting what he was going to do and even bothered to raise this point out the show that you were right in your earlier "prediction" about him. What do all these tell us? and tell you yourself? Think again.
And if Dr Mahathir is really a "nobody", then Redbean would not even write about him. Right?
The truth is Dr Mahathir is still a "Somebody" even in today's context of political play in both Malaysia and Singapore!
To Anybody, Somebody or Nobody,
I commented about him because I am bored, bored, bored now that the PC Show in Singapore is over and the stock and forex markets are marking time for the next upward assault.
But from your perspective, I may well understand why you idolized him.
Well to each his own. I must say this though. Malaysians are more loyal than Singaporeans.
For your information, my parents used to hawk food in Petaling Street so I have many fond memories of the OLD Malaysia.
Mahathir may have his bad points.
But LKY is a dictator and a joke.
And the Name of someone in SIN will stink for a long time to come.
hi nobody or somebody, welcome to the blog.
i used to admire mahathir in his younger days for his gungho never say die attitude. he just did it.
but as he ages, he got lost in his megalomania and personal vendetta and he did things that were quite thoughtless, and he cared not the consequences. i lost him completely in his last few years in power. he is the one that allowed UMNO to be what it is today, losing its bearing by being quarrelsome at all costs.
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