Mahathir is quite simply (though brashfully) pointing out a
distinct fact: that Malaysia is a few 100 times the size of our
little island. Respect UMNO for what they have done so far. Not
only has their long term alliance with the MCA reaped dividends, it
has held firm the unofficial truce between malaysian malays and
malaysian chinese.
With a country as small as us, LKY merely 'talked the talk' and
allowed visionaries such as Goh Keng Swee and Hon Sui Sen to 'walk
the walk'. It is far easier to control the borders in a small
island nation, as compared to the porous borders of our malaysian
neighbours.
Would LKY have performed a better job?
We will never know, seeing as how Malaysians as a whole, rejected
his meritocracy campaign during the brief merger with Malaya.
Now, having managed to bring us from 3rd world to developed (not
yet first world), no doubt he deserves the plaundits for his
achievements. But along with his status comes his increasingly
common streak of arrogance.
Like George Bush, he enjoys 'meddling' into the affairs of
neighbours just because he met success in his field. Passing
uncharacteristic comments such as those he made last week are
mistakes he would not have made 20 years ago.
Are you so sure he would have done 'the job ten
times better than what Mahathir did'? LKY's first
action, had he led the then Federation of Malaya, would have been
to permanently abolish the bumiputra policy that favours malays,
and instill his famed 'Malaysian Malaysia' campaign, something the
malays would have refused to accept.
How many demonstrations and racial riots would he have to supress
during his supposed reign? With his hardline, no-nonsense approach,
one can be forgiven if LKY will likely run Malaysia the way Deng
Xiao Ping ran China back in the days of the communist
politburo.
