mahathir’s value system

did you guys came across the news article where our former PM told the malays to change their value system for survival? taking up from there (what our dear dr m said), martin jalleh had written this article for your thought. ok folks, time to grumble about your ex PM (again). ;0

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Mahathir’s Value System
by Martin Jalleh
25 Aug. 2004

After leading this country for 22 years, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has discovered that the Malays need good values to become a truly competitive race.

The former PM and leader of the Malays for 22 years feels that opportunities given to the Malays to better their lot will go to waste “if these do not go in tandem with the appropriate value system such as perseverance and hard work”.

Mahathir had tried so hard to inculcate such values in his own race and had done so by example. Many are the examples.

For a start, the former PM had stressed a great deal on family values and filial piety. Value your parents, especially your father, for you may never know when you may need him to bail you out especially at a time when your business is like a sinking ship.

Another value which would come in handy on the road to success would be loyalty. Alas, its rare to find loyalty such as that of the former chief of the Special Branch who declared in a court that he was willing even to lie for the then Prime Minister.

A very important part of a good value system is respect. We must value and respect each and every person – no matter how seemingly insignificant he or she is, for one day you may need your “friend’s” driver to accuse your “friend” of sodomy in court.

During his tenure, Mahathir vigorously promoted democratic values for a successful nation by decreeing that the top two posts of UMNO should not to be challenged. Democratic maturity was defined as not having the need for party elections.

Mahathir himself was a living example of the oneness of purpose in achieving what he wanted. He was so single-minded in showing double-standards to those who did wrong and were guilty of corruption.

For many years the former PM spoke tirelessly about the great importance of a value system – the value of shares in the stock market, the stable monetary system, the value of currencies, the value for money and profits.

He instilled great confidence in his crony capitalists and he nudged his UMNO-putras on to think big, talk big, borrow big, and build big for his was an era of big dreams, big visions, big plans, big infrastructure (since he did not like the word “mega”) and there was no place for pondok-talk.

Mahathir had worked very hard to set into motion the wheels of privatization and in putting public utilities in the hands of a few private corporations and he worked doubly hard in compensating them handsomely when such efforts were derailed – whilst the citizenry paid more for supposedly better services.

To Mahathir, everything and everyone was of great value to him. He employed and honed to perfection the very tools left behind by the colonial master to silence those who disagreed with him, for eg. the ISA, the OSA and the Printing and Publications Act.

To make things easier for big business and politics, and for his crony companies, the former PM “transformed” overnight Parliament, the Federal Constitution, the judiciary, the Sultans, the Police, the media and/or any institution that delayed or tried to deny him his instant super rich Malay elite.

Indeed, Mahathir persevered through it all, in providing opportunities to (some of) the Malays, and in his retirement he remains as humble (another value to be emulated) as ever – he does not want to take credit for the very reason why the Malays need good values today to become a truly competitive race.