By Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
June 15, 2009
1. Ancient China considered itself the centre of the world and
called itself the Middle Kingdom. And well it should. It was far
more advanced in every way than Europe of the Dark Ages. Maybe
China is thinking of making a comeback.
2. But we already have a new Middle Kingdom now. During Lee Kuan Yew's
triumphant visit to Malaysia he made it known to the Malaysian
supplicants that Singapore regards the lands within 6000 miles
radius of Singapore as its hinterland. This
includes Beijing and Tokyo and of course Malaysia.
3. Of course this self-deluding
perception places Singapore at the centre of a vast
region. It is therefore the latter day
Middle Kingdom. The rest are peripheral and are there to serve the
interest of this somewhat tiny Middle Kingdom.
4. Kuan Yew also explained that the fear Singapore Chinese would
control Iskandar whatever is not justified. Malays can also work
there. It is good to know that
Malays can also work in their own country. I wonder as
what? Maybe someone should make a study of
the Malays of Singapore just to know what it is like to be a Malay
minority in their own country.
5. As for the 3 sen per 1000 gallons of raw water supplied to
Singapore Lee says it was absurd for the former Prime Minister of
hinterland Malaysia to ask to increase it to RM8 per 1000 gallons.
I don't know where he got this. Some Malaysian officers did suggest
this figure but we were ready to bargain and maybe settle for RM3.
And why not? Johore sells raw
water to Melaka for 30 sen, 1000% higher than to Singapore. And
Melaka is, I believe, a part of Malaysia! Some Malaysians may see
the irony of this.
6. The great 5th Prime Minister has decided that since the people
of Johore did not want to sell sand to Singapore, Malaysia would
not build any bridge, straight or crooked, or negotiate and settle
the other issues like the Central Provident Fund, the Railway land.
Maybe the 5th Prime Minister thinks he is punishing Singapore.
Actually he is giving Singapore what its wants including the 3 sen
per 1000 gallons water until 2061. Think of how many grains of nasi
lemak we can buy with 3 sen in 2061. Imagine what 1000 gallons will
earn for Singapore at that time. Can't think of a more astute PM
for Malaysia.
7. All those who met the great
man from the little country were lectured on how Malaysia should be
run. We should not have anymore problems
now. We have been told the direction to take. MCA must help UMNO to
win because Singapore does not want an Islamic Party like PAS to
win. We must ensure this. Sorry PAS. Working with the DAP, the
offspring of PAP has not endeared you to Mr Lee.
8. I have a lot more to say
about this little Emperor but I will reserve it for
later.
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2009/06
No country for old
men
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Asia Sentinel
Lee Kuan Yew ventures into the Malaysian thicket, finds
Mahathir hasn't mellowed
Lee Kuan Yew, the 85-year-old patriarch and minister mentor of
Singapore, might have thought he was taking a pleasant eight-day
valedictory lap across several Malaysian states last week, but it
has turned out to be anything but.
On Monday, Lee came under blistering attack by his old adversary,
the 84-year-old former prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who
referred to him acidly in his blog, Che Det, as "the great man from
the little country" and later called him a "little emperor." The
full force of his comments on Lee can be found in his blog
here.
It was Lee's first visit to Malaysia in four years and his first
outside of Kuala Lumpur since 1989, and any visit he makes is
certain to kick off a round of invective from Mahathir and others.
There has been no love lost between the two octogenarians, both of
whom ruled their countries with an iron hand, Lee for 31 years,
Mahathir for 22, and who have never passed up an opportunity to
slag each other off. But the current round is surprising for its
vitriol.
Not only did Mahathir release a blazing attack on Lee, but
Mahathir's former political secretary Matthias Chang, writing in a
publication called Suara Keadilan, said even worse, saying that,
"To many anti-colonial
fighters of the third world, Lee Kuan Yew was contemptuously
referred to as "ivory-skin Englishman" who "was and still is
perceived as the lackey of the British power
elites."
The Federation of Malaya and Singapore split into two countries in
1965, and Malaysian has never failed to gleefully bring up the fact
that Kuan Yew burst into tears at the dissolution.
Kuan Yew's dream, Chang wrote, of "being the Overlord of
Malaysia, comprising of Peninsula Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah was
shattered and he has to be content with being a bully of a city
state! Given such a traumatic experience, and possessing a
vindictive disposition, it is a given that Lee Kuan Yew would
harbor a secret agenda against Malaysia. And over the years, he has
sowed and continues to sow discord among the races in
Malaysia."
Reading various reports of Kuan Yew's visit, he doesn't seem to
have done any such thing, instead arguing for more stable relations
between the two countries. "It makes no sense for bilateral ties to
be sunny one day, stormy the next," he was quoted as saying.
"I leave Kuala Lumpur with some optimism, guarded optimism, because
we have to see the words translated into action," he said as he was
leaving for Ipoh. "I had to emphasize that it cannot be cooperation
today, non-cooperation next year and then back again, backwards and
forwards, because these are very big investments both in the
Iskandar region and the third bridge to Desaru and the east coast,
from Desaru up to Mersing, up to Kuantan and Pekan, massive
projects requiring huge investments, the returns can only be
calculated in decades, not in terms of years."
Lee's visit appears bound to stir up additional tensions between
Mahathir and Najib Tun Razak, Malaysia's prime minister, who
extended the invitation to Lee and who has publicly said he wants
cooperation with the island republic, especially over the massive
Iskandar development at the bottom of Johor state which was begun
by former Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, which is being
built partly on Singapore money.
Mahathir was
quoted last year as saying Singaporean investors could force Malays
out of the project. "After the land is sold, the Malays will be
driven to live at the edge of the forest and even in the forest
itself," he was quoted as saying last May. "In the end, the area in
Iskandar Malaysia will be filled with Singaporeans and populated
with only 15 percent Malays."
"Kuan Yew also explained that the fear Singapore Chinese would
control Iskandar whatever is not justified. Malays can also work
there," Mahathir wrote in his blog. "It is good to know that Malays
can also work in their own country. I wonder as what? Maybe someone
should make a study of the Malays of Singapore just to know what it
is like to be a Malay minority in their own country."
During Lee's visit to Malaysia, Mahathir wrote, "he made it known
to the Malaysian supplicants that Singapore regards the lands
within 6000 miles radius of Singapore as its hinterland. This
includes Beijing and Tokyo and of course Malaysia.
"Of course this self-deluding perception places Singapore at the
centre of a vast region. It is therefore the latter day Middle
Kingdom. The rest are peripheral and are there to serve the
interest of this somewhat tiny Middle Kingdom."
Badawi, Mahathir continued, "decided that since the people of Johor
did not want to sell sand to Singapore, Malaysia would not build
any bridge, straight or crooked, or negotiate and settle the other
issues like the Central Provident Fund, the Railway land. Maybe the
5th Prime Minister thinks he is punishing Singapore. Actually he is
giving Singapore what it wants including the 3 sen per 1000 gallons
water until 2061. Think of how many grains of nasi lemak we can buy
with 3 sen in 2061. Imagine what 1000 gallons will earn for
Singapore at that time. Can't think of a more astute PM for
Malaysia."
All of those who met Lee, Mahathir said, "were lectured on how
Malaysia should be run. We should not have any more problems now.
We have been told the direction to take. MCA must help UMNO to win
because Singapore does not want an Islamic Party like PAS to win.
We must ensure this. Sorry PAS. Working with the DAP, the offspring
of PAP has not endeared you to Mr Lee.
I have a lot more to say about this little Emperor but I will
reserve it for later," he concluded, "but I will say it
later."
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1936&Itemid=181&limit=1&limitstart=0
