Well, my request to YM Raja Petra Kamarudin to have a special column for Tun Dr. Mahathir at the Malaysia Today Independent News Blog turned out even better.
YM Raja Petra roped in all the NGO’s and even political parties and held an exclusive dialogue with the former Malaysian Premier at the Century Paradise Club, Taman Melawati, Hulu Kelang, Selangor this morning.
It was a full house with overflowing crowds who came to see and hear for themselves what Tun Dr. Mahathir had to share about the latest news.
Even the PAS Deputy President Ustaz Nasharuddin, 3 Vice Presidents, former Cabinet Ministers, VVIP’s, NGO’s like ABIM, UIA Islamic Scholars, MT regular bloggers such as yours truly and individuals took the opportunity to ask him questions and to listen to his off the cuff explanations as to why he has taken the present BN government to task for kowtowing to the whims and notions of an Oxford graduate pulling the strings of the puppets in power today!
Malaysia Today is posting the videos taken during the dialogue at its website.
Many issues were raised by the participants and posed to Tun Dr.Mahathir who in his usual point blank and witty remarks poured out his feelings and reasons in his answers.
Among the various topics Tun Dr M spoke about was the way the Cabinet ministers are blindly expressing their total support to the current PM!
Blind support by the ministers for no other reason than that the fellow they are supporting is the Prime Minister! They will support just anyone who becomes the PM! It doesn’t matter whether the fella is this or that, as long as you become the Prime Minister, we will support you!
No questions asked! Total support, a 1001%! Hidup …………………………(just fill in the blanks)!!!
Frankly speaking, I feel Tun Dr. M already knows that the ministers from day one, have been carrying his balls for the very same reason that they have to protect their own interests.
It comes as no surprise to me for the same apple-polishing culture exists in any organisation what more in government ministerial positions where kickbacks and side incomes are the order of the day and once in power, the future for these fellas and their generations are already secured with millions and millions filling up their coffers forever.
We were then told by Tun Dr. M about the lies that the BN Government is pushing down our throats that the Government doesn’t have money!
Profits from Petronas of more than RM80 billion just last year saw the Government’s coffers being swelled by more than RM30billion in taxes alone and then again, who owns Petronas if not the Malaysian Government itself?
From a RM2billion startup capital from the Government, Petronas has been making tonnes of money from its operations in 36 countries worldwide and is the main moneymaking machine for the government!
Tun further said that he knows where the government is stashing its billions and if they still claim not to have money, he can show them where the money is himself!
He said if it’s true that all the mega projects that he carried out during his premiership was a waste of funds, just imagine a scenario where you take away all the infrastructure that he helped the government build in the name of development out of the country!
Remove the North South Highway, remove the KLCC, KLIA, LRT’s, Monorail, Putrajaya, etcetera! Imagine the country without all its modern infrastructure!
Imagine the country without the national automobiles! What kind of a lifestyle would the citizens of this country be living in?
You need to watch the videos in full to catch the full essence of what took place this morning at the Kelab Century Paradise!
He then went on to spill the beans about Pak Lah’s ‘Elegant Silence’! The main reason is none other than that our Mr. Prime Minister listens to Khairy Jamaluddin, his son in law who is the puppet master behind the PM’s Department! He kept referring to KJ by speaking of ‘Oxford Grad’ in his lambasting Pak Lah! The media were having a field day! 😀
The crowd just loved all the exposes being thrashed out by the Tun! Shouts of support rang out from the audience and thunderous applause broke out with each of the Tun’s disclosures about the powerplay in our nation’s BN Government!
PAS leaders surely loved each and every morsel of info coming out of the Tun’s mouth! And to think that just 3 years ago, these same fellows were calling Tun Dr. Mahathir as ‘Mahafiraun’, ‘Mahazalim’, etc! 😛
As they say about politicians; “Yesterday’s sworn enemies, today’s chummy buddies”! or at least they are trying to be in Tun Dr. M’s good books!
He spoke about the bridge project connecting JB and Singapore. Works on the project had already started when he was still the Prime Minister. The present Cabinet Ministers were in his government when the project was started. None of them objected back then. Total support!
Even Singapore didn’t object back then and there were no conditions laid down by them when the project was mooted by the Malaysian Government under Dr. Mahathir! Lee Kuan Yew accepted, Goh Chok Tong said it’s okay and there was no talk about Malaysia having to supply Singapore with more than a billion cubic metres of sand, allow the Singapore Air Force to fly its fighter jets over Johore airspace, etc!
Within months of him stepping down and handing over power to Abdullah Badawi, the bridge project was shelved by the present BN Cabinet for reasons that certain parties who stood to make millions from the contract, were unable to do so for reasons that are considered ‘top secret’, etc.
The double track project for the KTM was also shelved by the present government. Proton from a RM500 million startup capital by the Government, has made more than RM30billion for the government. He says he doesn’t understand how the previous Proton management which made so much money for the government could be replaced by the government and now causing Proton to be in the red?
Perodua now makes so much more money than Proton. Who’s responsible for this?
He also spoke about the AP’s. He says how the Ministry of International Trade and Industry abused the allocation of the APs to a couple of persons only. To learn more about the details of what he said, I suggest you to go watch the videoclips in full at the Malaysia-Today.Net.
There were so many things he spoke about that I would be taking so much time to fully write about all the matters he shared. The man is truly extraordinary as a speaker. He can just go on and on like that although he is now 81! Talk about stamina and focus of mind.
You hear Abdullah Badawi talking in his raspy croaky voice on TV and you want to reach for the remote for the sheer run of the mill ‘Cemerlang, Gemilang, Terbilang’ rhetoric sort of makes you want to puke! Don’t even start to think about the difference between the two men. Miles apart!
Same goes for the next in line. To date, none of the cabinet ministers have the oratory skills of the Grand Old Man of Malaysian politics!
For bloopers, tantrums and saliva spewing bullshit, we all know who are the fellows you can expect to dish out that kind of stuff! The acronyms start with LKY and SV. Figure it out.
To sum it all up, I loved being there and got to meet YM Raja Petra in person. Also got to share some ideas and plans with the PAS leadership, ABIM’s President, UIA’s Scholar Ustaz Muhammadiy, etc.
Thanks for making this happen YM Raja Petra! Alhamdulillah.
Looking forward to our MT Bloggers Meetup. Insya-Allah.
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Salaam Mahaguru,
Quite simply, Pak Lah has been isolated by this “wall” of his own making. And when daughter Noni was being made like “first daughter” in the recent official visit by Emperor Akihito, the wall goes higher. Well, it should’nt be surprising for after all, we already know who is the ‘real’ prime minister.
Is Pak Lah doing a Gusdur?
PS: FYI, rockybru posted in Malaysia Today enquiring of your blog. I have actually met rocky in the Press Club but I doubt he know me with this pseudonym.
Wa’alaikumsalam bro,
Actually I feel sad to see the turn of events taking place in our nation.
Tun Dr.M had no other options when he handed over power to Mr.Nice Guy back in 2003.
DSAI was too impatient and thus screwed himself when he went around garnering support to overthrow Dr.M back then.
He should have known better than to try to unseat a man who has been in power for so long that at one time , when we talk about the PM, no one else comes to mind except Dr.Mahathir Mohamad!
When Abdullah Badawi took over the Premiership, everyone heaved a sigh of relief that at last, we can all breathe easy and that things would be better for the people.
We could express ourselves without fear of retribution or have the SB’s camping outside of our doors.
The internet provided us all a medium of free speech albeit we are still traceable by those who want to seek us out by our IP addresses.
I have advised the MT Bloggers before as to be responsible when commenting.
The words I used were:
‘Terlajak taip boleh delete; terlajak ‘enter’takleh ‘backspace’.
So,we need to be gentlemen enough to stand by what we say or do.
Pak Lah has let us down by following the dictates of those closest to him.
We can only speculate that it is a family member related to him by marriage of his daughter to the fellow.
What we come to conclude is based on hearsay and circumstantial evidence as we heard from the Tun himself today.
We don’t have that privilege of internal information.
Can we believe whatever is being reported in the local newspapers?
I don’t think so anymore.
All we can do is to take things as they come to us with a balanced viewpoint and doublecheck its authenticity.
The Prophet SAW advised us to check the source of the news and as to who is the newsbearer.
We all know how our local media is being dictated to and selective reporting.
A saint can be turned into a sinner and vice versa by manipulative reporting and calculated editing.
Media technology and scientific advancements can conjure up things, audio visual data etc that can make us see and hear things that never took place or make the reality evaporate into nothingness as if it never took place.
~~~
Malaysians need to be aware of all that is taking place in our nation.
Pak Lah has already incurred the wrath of the people by increasing our costs of living by his drastic fuel price increases and pending increases of many other basic necessities.
Nepotism glares at us in the face in the form of the shenanigans perpetrated by his son in law.
Where all this is going to lead this nation to is just another chain of events that will definitely see a change in the next GE if Malaysians have any sense of good judgement in choosing the next government or stay condemned to suffer in silence forever under a new set of tyrants masquerading as sheeps when they are actually the very wolves that everyone wants to get rid of.
Let’s see what the proponents of ‘Islam Hadhari’ have in store for us in the near future.
From the way ‘Mr.Elegantly Silent’ is going with his rhetoric, I concur that Gus Dur has his counterpart alive and well here in Bolehland!
End of the day, the rich will still get wealthier whilst the ‘doongoos’ will still be routing for them! 😛
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I have responded to rockybru’s request.
Hope I’ve answered your questions.
Thanks for commenting.
Namaskar Mahaguru. I like your honesty. I respect your attitude. But just perhaps a trivial question. The word ‘MahaGuru’ is Sanskrit, it means “great teacher- or dispeller of darkness,” and it is revered by Indians and devotees of Vedic spirituality all over the world.
I’m glad that you can transcend the ethos of narrow parochialism and religion.
Reviewing the current cultural landscape of Malaysia, Wouldn’t an Arabic salutation have been even better?
Salaam Mahaguru,
I have actually heard first hand stories about the high profile role of the menantu. But as to Mathias Chang’s allegation, I dont know. However, the front page headline in today’s NST – Cover for Whistle Blowers with DPM’s remarks captioned, “the public should’nt be afraid to come forward and lodge reports on corruption to the ACA. The ACA can protect them.”
It’s very seldom that our DPM grace the front page headlines. I wonder why now, but if this idea of a Witness Protection Program becomes real, I think it will be an effective way to curb corruption. …. and perhaps, more juicy stories in the net too!!!
Peace. Out !
Welcome Attila the Hun.
Peace be upon you too.
Speaking my mind comes naturally for me for I am a caller to Islam.
Being honest in voicing out my opinions allows me to sleep in peace.No guilty feelings. 🙂
That’s why the peasant can just fall asleep within minutes lying on the reed mat whilst the billionaire twists and turns on his luxury bed all night long worried about who’s gonna steal his wealth etc.
So, at this twilight age, it feels good to be able to speak my mind and having no double thoughts about it. 🙂
Regarding my usage of the term ‘Mahaguru’, its not that I am declaring to be one. It’s just a stage that I hope to attain eventually before passing on to the next realm.
We are all the Children of the Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) sir.
As such, it makes no difference to me as to my using a Sanskrit term as long as the meaning it carries is noble.
I would like to invite you to read up on the Prophet Muhammad’s Final Message to All Mankind.
http://mahaguru58.blogspot.com/2006/04/final-sermon-of-prophet-muhammad-pbuh.html
Read this section of the Final Sermon which explains clearly about our equality amongst mankind.
‘All Mankind is from Adam and Eve, An Arab has no superiority over a Non Arab nor does a Non Arab has any superiority over an Arab;
In addition, a White has no superiority over a Black nor has a Black any superiority over a White except by piety and good actions.’
As such, being Arab or Indian or just any other race as a humanbeing is no big deal for us who are true Muslims.
The color of our skin or eyes doesn’t guarantee our stations in the hereafter.
Our deeds and our sincerity is what determines our fate when we leave this mortal plane of existence.
Only the Almighty Creator of us decides our final destinations.
Even the Prophet’s paternal uncle is condemned forever in the Qur’an for being an enemy to the Mercy for all Mankind for his devious actions in trying to stop the Prophet’s Mission.
So, blood relations or claims of nobility is not a passport to Heaven, my bro.
I have no problems using the word ‘Mahaguru’. Hope I can reach that station in the long run.
As for the numerals 58, tis but the year of my birth-1958.
Thanks for commenting. Come again.
Akm Mahaguru,
This is my first visit.
I decided to come after reading Jeff Ooi’s.
Syabas di atas kaedah tuan berdakwah.
I was there too out of curiosity plus the intention of meeting YM Raja Petra whom I had the pleasure of meeting once more than ten years ago. But I forgotten he wrote that he had gone Megat Komeng. Although I did spot the very busy person yesterday, Gosh it simply did not cross my mind…Only when I saw your photograph with him just now, I said to myself: Oh, that’s him!
I am new in this blogging stuff. But like you, what the heck…are we not moved by the goings-on?
Like the Grand Master, surely we can’t say, it’s none of our business, rite?
Talk to you again later…
Wa’alaikumsalam brother Haqq!
Welcome to my blog.
Insyaallah , we shall share with others what we have come to learn and appreciate about Deenul Haqq!
Just speak your mind true and clear and learn from all that we come across.
Use your commonsense and guidance from Allah to know the Haqq from the Batil and enjoin others to learn about Islam, Mankind’s birthright to know Allah SWT!
Insyaallah, we can do it ! 🙂