Tun Dr Mahathir yesterday spent some two-and-a-half-hour making a speech addressing a group of some 100 bloggers who have gathered at the Perdana Leadership Foundation HQ in Putrajaya. There were already hints from Raja Petra Kamarudin earlier that the early hunky-dory story from Bernama on how Pak Lah and Dr M are buddies again after the Langkawi International Dialogue is nothing but a farce, and Dr M will show it in yesterday's event. Anyway, Dr M touched on a host of issues, including the call for bloggers to be united, not be cowed by the intimidation of the administration, and write with facts, figures and without fear. Calling bloggers and netizens as the only hope left in the face of an onslaught from a totally paralysed Umno (in terms of its inability to correct itself), he gave this advice:
“You have to gather force. You have to talk to people. Even if you are arrested, you go and talk... If you have only one person doing that, it’s not good enough.Rocky has quite a number of entries about the event (here and here), as well as Harakah who reported that Dr M said the Malays can't seem to break out of their tendency to vote for Umno. Malaysia-Today has a video recording of the event. Malaysiakini also provided a good overview of the various topics touched by Dr M (who called Malaysiakini a "pain in the neck" for him). I reproduce it below:
“If you want to do something that is positive, you have to get everybody, as much as possible, and do it openly and say it loud and clear.”
Source: Malaysiakini
Malaysiakini was a 'pain in the neck'
Aug 15, 07 10:01pm
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/71239
Below are excerpts of key topics covered by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his two-and-a-half-hour speech-cum-dialogue with about 100 bloggers today.
The event was organised by Warga Prihatin Malaysia (Prihatin) and was held at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya.
On the emergence of online dissidents
During my time, the pain-in-the-neck was Malaysiakini.com. I must admit I was very annoyed with them simply because I find that what they said about me was not right... was not true at all.
Of course, everybody assumed that I was corrupt. Even if I said I was not, people won’t believe you. Nowadays if you say you didn’t bribe, people will believe you.
But today, the number of bloggers are just so many, (this means) something must really be wrong (with the current administration). Otherwise, it would be Malaysiakini.com only.
I met Malaysiakini.com and I explained why I did those things before. I don’t know if they believe me or not. I may have committed sins. I don’t think anyone inside this hall has not committed sins before. We all commit some sins at some stage or other.
But if just because we’ve committed some sins therefore we feel shy about saying anything, then of course, others would continue with doing the wrong things.
On the 'rotten' state of the country
Shakespeare said in Hamlet, “There is something rotten in Denmark”. Maybe, our gathering today is because there is something rotten in the state of Malaysia.
The stench is so strong until we have to find a way to reduce the smell. We have to discuss the issues which caused the stench. But what is real about our situation? That would depend on your point of view.
If we were to follow the (reports of the) mainstream media, everything is very good. Everything smells very nice - from politics, to economy or even society.
On judicial appointments
The power (to appoint important judicial positions) is with the prime minister, not the Agung (king). The Agung must follow whatever advice given by the prime minister. When a PM is not brave enough to hold on to this basis, we will have a situation where it is very difficult to appoint a judge.
On a story in Sunday Star in which Khairy Jamaluddin was referred to as a ‘political son of Mahathir’
Spot on! I am a dictator remember? I had an administration that was cruel and harsh... that arrest people and put them under ISA (Internal Security Act) all the time, spend money on mega-projects until the country is bankrupt... that is Dr Mahathir and that is Khairy!
It’s a compliment to him, not to me. I’m grateful. I don’t have to say anything else. Next question?
On press censorship
I’m waiting for what’s going to happen to the editor of The Star (who) allowed the article by (the) former IGP (inspector-general of police Hanif Omar) to be published. I’m quite sure somebody is going to get blasted for letting that article to come out.
(In his article on Aug 12, Hanif claimed that there was a severe split in the police force with one group taking orders from the current IGP while another taking orders from the Internal Security Ministry).
On the purchase of a portion of MV Augusta by BMW
Somebody who bought from Proton and (later) sold Augusta to BMW made a profit... why didn’t Proton wait in the past? They could have been made offers by other companies such as BMW. Instead, they sold it for RM4 to Gevi.
Who is this Gevi? I’ve tried to find out. It’s not listed in the Italian stock exchange... This is a mystery. Not only is the smell bad, there is a lot of mystery about this smell. Bau busuk.
But we cannot question (the decision to sell MV Augusta) because the people involved were ‘very good’ - people with strong nationalist sentiments. That’s why they are willing to save Proton from losses by selling it for RM4.
(At this juncture, Mahathir was interrupted from the floor by former Proton chief executive Mahaleel Ariff who said that BMW paid RM446 million for MV Augusta)
Oh my goodness... tapi apa kira? (but so what?) we are capable of taking losses... RM300 million... RM400 million... it’s nothing to us...
On politics
I don’t want to say much about politics... Today, politics is not something that we can discuss because the people who are in charge of politics know everything already. So don’t ever suggest anything is wrong with Malaysian politics.
On selling water to Singapore
We don’t have to negotiate (with Singapore) to sell them 1,000 gallons of water for three sen. That is a reasonable price. If we were to buy nasi lemak for three sen, we might get three grains of rice.
Oil prices go up. Cigarette prices go up. But since 1927, the price of water for Singapore is still the same. Their ability to control inflation is so good that their price of water cannot go up. So we should pat ourselves in the back for our ability to control inflation.
On siding with the opposition
I don’t side with the opposition. I side with my country, my race, my religion and my party (Umno). When I say I side with my party, (it) doesn’t mean I side with the party leaders.
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